EPIX Pharmaceuticals(EPIX): Hey Ma Look What I Found
Written by: Aaron Katsman | December 21, 2007
Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com
EPIX Pharmaceuticals(EPIX) is a bio-pharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapeutics through the use of its proprietary and highly efficient in silicodrug discovery platform. The company made a huge breakthrough earlier in the week relating to Alzheimer’s. As we all know some of the greatest inventions were stumbled upon accidentally. We know about Ben Franklin, and what happened when chocolate met peanut butter, the rest is history. Perhaps much more important to humanity is what EPIX stumbled upon.
They initiated a phase 2A study of their Alzheimer’s disease drug, PRX-03140, to get safety and tolerability information. What happened? They actually found that the drug had a profound impact on the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale cognitive subscale. While it usually takes drugs between 12 and 24 weeks to show an improvement, after 2 weeks with PRX-03140 and sufferers showed a marked improvement.
Even the CEO was surprised by the findings. Epix Chief Executive Officer Michael Kauffman said the company was surprised by the compound’s swift effectiveness.
“No drug has been shown to work this quickly, as far as we are aware,” said Kauffman, adding that other Alzheimer’s drugs generally must be taken for at least 12 weeks before any significant improvement can be observed.
With 5 million Americans Alzheimer’s the opportunity for EPIX is huge. Consider as well, with an aging population this could be absolutely huge for the little Biotech company with a market-cap of just $141 million. After seeing the stock surge more than 50% on the news it has fallen way back. With this potential revolutionary, blockbuster drug, this is a stock that should be trading much higher than the $4 range. For investors looking to take a swing at an up and coming drug company EPIX is worth the look.
Disclosure: Author’s fund holds no position in any stock mentioned as of 12/21/07.
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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.
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