Could Bristol-Myers' Growth Flatline Post-Plavix?

In 2009, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY-$24.50) derived almost one-third of its total sales, or $6.1 billion, from the blood-clot inhibitor Plavix (clopidogrel), co-marketed with French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis (SNY). Can growth from existing drugs help mitigate revenue and earnings lost to generic copycats when the drug maker's best-selling cardiovascular drug loses market exclusivity come 2012? Read More >….

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Novartis' Search In a Post-Diovan World Continues

Findings from ASPIRE (Aliskiren Study in Post-MI Patients to Reduce Remodeling), one of 14 trials evaluating Novartis AG’s (NVS-$51.97) Tekturna’s potential benefits beyond blood pressure reduction, showed that although addition of the hypertensive drug did help limit changes to the heart’s shape and function in patients after heart attack (post-myocardial infarction), the results were not statistically significant.

The collective findings in the post-MI population do not support dual-agent suppression of Tekturna with other drugs inhibiting the renin-angiotensin system at this time, concluded Dr. Solomon, presenter of ASPIRE trial.

Going forward, what does this mean for Novartis’ attempt to boost sales when blockbuster BP drug Diovan loses market exclusivity? Read More > ….

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Talk of Oil Drilling at Chesapeake Energy Nothing But Gas

Chesapeake Energy’s (CHK-$23.50) near-term outlook calls for a shift in some production to oil and natural gas liquids, such as propane and butane. The number two natural gas producer will initially focus drilling activities on unconventional shale prospects, such as its holdings in the Granite Wash formations of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma.

In the various Granite Wash plays of the Anadarko Basin, Chesapeake is the largest leasehold owner with approximately 190,000 net acres and is also the most active driller and largest producer. Speaking at recent energy conferences, chairman Aubrey McClendon identified particularly prolific gas- and oil-rich areas — with reservoirs potentially loaded with upwards of 90 barrels per million cubic feet — that have become the two highest rate-of-return plays in the company.

What McClendon, crowned “Mr. Gas” in a 2008 Fortune article, forgot to mention, however, is that profitable retrieval of these oily reservoirs will require much higher natural gas prices.

Read More: Chesapeake Energys’ Move to Oil Needs Higher Gas Prices

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Solar Module Acquisition Better for LDK Solar or Chairman?

By controlling each node of the manufacturing value chain — and locating its new polysilicon plant adjacent to its existing low-cost (wages) wafer facility in Xinyu City, China — LDK Solar (LDK-$8.43) was confident it could reduce overall production costs, improve product quality (such as conversion efficiency rates), and enhance its core competitiveness in an increasingly crowded (and commodity-like) market for solar wafers.

In 2009, aggregate annualized production was about 6,000 metric tons — significantly lower than forecasted nameplate capacity of 16,000 metric tons. In addition to construction delays, costs for the silicon plant ha approached $2 billion — well above the forecasted budget of $1.2 billion.

In the fourth-quarter of 2009, LDK reported wafer average selling prices (ASP) of US$0.83 per watt, down from US$2.24 per watt in 2007. The significant decline in wafer prices forced the company to write down the carrying values of its inventories by almost US$500 million in the last two years.

Despite its inability to capture wafer cost advantages through the ownership of more of its upstream supplier chain, chairman and chief executive officer Xiaofeng Peng insists LDK should move downstream. In February LDJ purchased a crystalline module manufacturing plant owned by Peng for $21.5 million.

Is the decision best for LDK or Peng? Read More > ….

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Cabot Oil Still Has "Gas" in its Future

Cabot Oil & Gas (COG-$39.63) is showing early success from its Haynesville Shale assets located in East Texas, with its first horizontal well currently producing at 19 million cubic feet (Mmcf) per day, according to chairman and chief executive officer Dan Dinges.

Cabot’s asset portfolio is spread principally between low-risk/long reserve-life (27 years) Appalachian assets (Marcellus Shale) and high-volume/rapid-payout (estimated reserve life of 13 years) prospects in the Gulf Coast (East and Southeast Texas). Although most of its of its 2010 capital budget is geared toward expanding takeaway pipeline capacity and ramping up production at its core Marcellus holdings in Susquehanna county, PA, management has still budgeted about $181 million of capital funds for drill-bit activity on Haynesville Shale prospects in East Texas.

Dinges said at a recent energy conference that the company expects drilling results from three other Haynesville Shale wells during this quarter.

But other stuff is happening that could derail the company’s ambitious drill program this year.

Read More > ….

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Chesapeake Energy Looks Toward 'Oily' Future

“The economics just compel you to look for oil rather than natural gas right now,” Chesapeake Energy’s (CHK-$24.09) chairman and chief executive officer Aubrey McClendon told attendees at Hart Energy’s annual Developing Unconventional Gas conference in Fort Worth last week.

McClendon admitted on the company’s February earnings call that $5.00 per million BTU pricing on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) equates to $3.50 gas at the wellhead, once differentials like gathering and compression costs are included in the cost calculus. “Even $3.50 gas at the wellhead does not create enough cash flow in the industry to maintain today’s drilling price — even for the best-managed shale plays,” he said.

Why is the nation’s second largest natural gas producer suddenly priming the drill-bit for oil? Continue Reading > ….

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Denbury Resources Asset Sale Doesn't Change Outlook

Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR-$17.95) announced its intent to sell certain of its oil and natural gas properties (acquired in the merger with Encore Acquisition) for $900 million to Quantum Resources Management, a privately held Houston-based company. As expected, the properties to be sold are located primarily located in the Permian Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

The leader in carbon dioxide-based, tertiary-recovery of aging oil fields said it would use the proceeds to pay down debt acquired in the $4.5 billion acquisition of Encore.

Although welcome news, the post-merged company would still be left with long-term debt of some $3 billion, or almost 40 percent of total capitalization. In addition, there is limited pipeline infrastructure to support planned CO2 -recovery operations in acquired Rocky Mountain assets. What now? Read More >….

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Making Commercial Sen$e of Genzymes' apo-B Inhibitor Mipomersen

Mipomersen is an antisense inhibitor of apo-B protein synthesis, the first drug of its type. Genzyme (GENZ-$51.83) intends to first seek approval in the U.S. and Europe for mipomersen in those patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH), a rare genetic disorder affecting one in a million people, in the first half of 2011.

Investigators believe mipomersen could be a valuable addition to the drugs used in the management of HoFH and could prove useful in the management of other high-risk, patients with severe hypercholesterolemia (resistant to existing lipid-lowering drugs)

Recent trial results, however, have raised questions about mipomersen’s safety and tolerability, as 76 percent and 12 percent of patients in the mipomersen-treated group had injection-site reactions and increased liver enzymes of three times or more the upper limit of normal (with MRI findings of increased intra-hepatic fat content too).

Two experts on antisense inhibitors of apo-B protein synthesis, R. Dermot Neely (Royal Victoria Infirmary, England) and John J Kastelein, (Chairman of the Department of Vascular Medicine at the Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam), share their insights on the commercial prospects of mipomersen. Continue Reading > ….

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Denbury Resources Profiting from Greenhouse Gases

Denbury Resources (DNR-$16.87) has completed its $4.5 billion purchase of Encore Acquisition Corp.

The Plano-based oil company makes its money by injecting carbon dioxide into depleted petroleum fields to recover lost production, and the integration of Encore will more than double the potential of its enhanced oil recovery (EOR) assets.

Anticipated tertiary production from Encore properties in the Rocky Mountains (Montana and Wyoming) fits nicely into Denbury’s overall EOR program, said chief executive officer Phil Ryhoek, and will provide production growth in 2015 and beyond, about the time when the company’s Gulf Coast tertiary fields are expected to hit production peaks.

Can Denbury Resources profit from greenhouse gas emissions? Read More > ,,,,

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.