Pharma News: Vivus, Inc. (VVUS)’s Contract, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA) & Amgen, Inc. (AMGN)’s Financial Results

Editor’s Note: Related tickers: VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS), Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA), Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG)

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS)VIVUS Announces Commercial Supply Agreement With Sanofi to Produce Avanafil (MarketWatch)
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) -1.13% today announced that it has entered into a Commercial Supply Agreement with Sanofi Chimie (“Sanofi”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi, to manufacture and supply the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for avanafil on an exclusive basis in the United States and other territories and on a semi-exclusive basis in the European Union and Latin America. …”Sanofi was the logical choice for avanafil API manufacturing,” stated Theodore Broman, vice president, chemistry manufacturing and control, VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS). “Their world-class manufacturing capabilities and facilities are well-suited to undertake the worldwide production of avanafil.” The qualification and subsequent approval by regulatory authorities is expected to be completed no later than June 30, 2015. Until such approvals, VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) and its partners will continue to source avanafil API from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation.

Arena Pharma’s Q2 Earnings Soar (Zacks)
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) earnings (excluding special items) of 17 cents per share in the second quarter of 2013 were higher than the breakeven earnings reported a year ago. Second quarter earnings also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 13 cents. Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) recorded second quarter revenues of $68.9 million, a massive increase of 213% from the year-ago period, thanks to a $65 million milestone payment received from partner Eisai related to Belviq. In Jun 2013, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) launched its obesity drug, Belviq, in the U.S. Second quarter results reflect the first three weeks of Belviq sales after its launch with Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) recording Belviq sales of $1.3 million. About 12,500 prescriptions for Belviq were written until Jul 19.

Why Has Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Suffered Despite Posting Better Earnings? (BasicsMedia)
Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has been in business since 1980, during which time it has managed to grow large enough and employ more than 18k personnel. It is based in Thousand Oaks, California and is a well known company in the production of biotechnology medicines which it sells in the U.S, Europe and Canada. For the better part, whenever a company posts financial results which seem to favor investors, it would not be wrong to think of this as being the precursor to good news in terms of stock price and dividends. Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) appears to have experienced the reverse. Why is this so? Did Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Declare Profits or Not? If you take a close look at the financial results which were posted by Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), you would discover one thing, that they all indicated the company made profits.

VIVUS Announces Date of Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results and Conference Call (Virtual-Strategy)
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) today announced that it will report financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013 after the Nasdaq Market closes on Tuesday, August 6, 2013. The company will conduct a conference call and an audio webcast at 4:30pm EDT the same day. …VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) is a biopharmaceutical company commercializing and developing innovative, next-generation therapies to address unmet needs in obesity and sexual health. For more information about the company, please visit www.vivus.com.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Given New $11.50 Price Target at Piper Jaffray Cos. (ARNA) (MideastTime)
Equities researchers at Piper Jaffray Cos. dropped their price objective on shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) to $11.50 in a research report issued on Thursday, Analyst Ratings Network reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Jaffray Cos.’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 67.64% from the stock’s previous close. Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) traded up 2.04% on Thursday, hitting $7.0001. Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) has a 52-week low of $6.65 and a 52-week high of $11.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $7.32. The company’s market cap is $1.524 billion.

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) and Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Added to Growing Stock Report’s NASDAQ Decliners Watch List. (SBWire)
Growing Stock Report expands its NASDAQ Decliners Weekly Watch List adding Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) and Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN). …Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) a biotechnology medicines company that engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of human therapeutic products in the areas of supportive cancer care, inflammation, nephrology, and bone diseases primarily in the United States, Europe, and Canada closed down in its previous session (-0.30%) on 2,106,197 shares traded after Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2013. Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) is currently down (-5.79%) from its recent 52-week high which has prompted Growing Stock Report to add the stock to their NASDAQ Decliners Watch List.