Out Fox The $treet

After reporting Q3 earnings, Savient Pharma (SVNT) plummeted back to $1 from the meteoric rise to nearly $3 during September. The stock has been stuck around that $1 level for the last two months. Will the new EU approval for KRYSTEXXA finally unleash the stock? The company is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase) for the treatment of chronic gout in adult patients refractory to conventional therapy. As written in previous articles (see here), the company was able to complete a restructuring that provided time to build the revenue base in the US. While all of those moves left the company better equipped to survive long enough for the promising new drug to thrive, Savient has yet to prove to the market that the drug will ever meet the original estimates. Will the lowered cost structure even be sufficient enough to survive? Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long SVNT. Read the disclaimer page f...

After reporting Q3 earnings, Savient Pharma (SVNT) plummeted back to a $1 from the meteoric rise to nearly $3 during the quarter. The company reported disappointing sales numbers for the promising gout drug and failed to break out one-time costs to provide investors a clearer picture of the 2013 earnings view. As written in a previous article, Savient Pharma: The Pharma Rising From The Dead, the company was able to complete a restructuring that provided time to build the revenue base. While all of those moves left the company better equipped to survive long enough for the promising new drug to thrive, Savient has yet to prove to the market that the drug will ever meet the original estimates. Will the lowered cost structure even be sufficient enough to survive? The company is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase) for the treatment of chronic gout in adult patients refractory to conventional therapy. Read the full artic...

Over the last year, Savient Pharma (SVNT) has undergone a disappointing sales launch of a promising drug, the hiring and defection to Dendreon (DNDN) of a big name CEO, and finally the lawsuit of a creditor for forced liquidation. Somehow during all of these crazy actions, the company was able to get the lawsuit dismissed, raise cash, and greatly right size the sales force to account for the slower launch of the new drug, KRYSTEXXA. All of these moves have left the company better equipped to survive long enough for the promising drug to thrive. The company is a specialty biopharmaceutical focused on developing and commercializing KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase) for the treatment of chronic gout in adult patients refractory to conventional therapy. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long SVNT. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Effective January 1st, KRYSTEXXA was assigned permanent J-code J2507 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This code allows healthcare providers an easier and quicker method for getting reimbursed for KRYSTEXXA infusions. While already known that KRYSTEXXA would get the permanent code on January 1st, confirmation is always good. Saivent Pharma (SVNT) had a horrible 2011 due to slow sales from this new drug approved for treatment for refractory chronic gout (RCG). The J code will undoubtedly help. By all accounts, the new drug works and the only issue has been working out the reimbursement process. Considering the time it takes to work through the system, SVNT doesn't expect a major impact until Q2. At just $2.4 and with a market cap around $170M, SVNT has become an extremely cheap stock if this J code solves all the issues with sales. It seems bizarre that this would solve the problems, but it is an expensive drug. Via SVNT PR: product-specific billing...

Today Savient Pharma (SVNT) announced the initial shipment to specialty distributors and pricing of KRYSTEXXA. These are two major milestones for a biotech stock basically left for dead by the market after a failed auction process back in late October. Now the key will be how many vials of KRYSTEXXA at $2,300 a pop SVNT will be able to sell with a limited salesforce. Considering they had thousands of people wanting sign up for trials and those people are desperate for the drug the sell shouldn't be that hard. If you have been suffering from gout without any relief from existing drugs, this product should be able to sell itself. The stock has been flat since the initial selloff. It is currently hanging out in the low $12s and offers substantial upside as the negative analyst community finally clues in that management is more then capable to go it alone having gotten the drug to market by Dec 1st nearly a month after announcing the failed auction process and a little over 2 mont...

Company refused to provide information on the failed buyout process so investors are left guessing the interest level. On one hand, its understandable that management doesn't want to discuss details in order to not hurt their hand in future discussions. On the other hand though, they need to do something better to support the stock price and shareholders. They should provide some expectations on sales price since they apparently aren't willing to sale to the highest bidder. They're leaving too much open for interpretation and the market has spoken that its not acceptable. Having said that, I was pleased to hear the company has made a lot of progress towards the launch of KRYSTEXXA. They already have the initial product labeled and ready. Marketing materials are waiting for approval from the FDA. One of the largest private payers has already agreed to include it as a reimbursable cost without knowing price. They also expect limited costs to develop the infrastructure neede...

Savinet Pharma (SVNT) might be one of today's biggest losers, but it could be tomorrow's biggest gainer. SVNT announced that they have been unable to find a buyer at a suitable price for the company. The stock initially dropped over 50% to a 52 week low on the announcement. Was the move warranted? Regardless of whether SVNT is bought out, the company still owns an orphan drug, KRYSTEXXA, recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of severe gout cases where no other option exists. The intrinsic value of the company hasn't changed because they couldn't find a deal for an agreeable price. The only change is the value an investor can expect to receive in the short term. With the drop in price, I'm sure a significant amount of companies have called seeing if management would drop there price to a level likely very attractive with the stock currently trading in the $12s around midday. SVNT could be tomorrow's biggest gainer. While the news is disappointing t...

Our Opportunistic and Growth portfolios aim to capture excess returns, but not without some diversification. Limiting portfolio sizes to 20-30 stocks allows for diversification without getting to levels of diworstification. Hence, the portfolios have always had a few 'risky' biotech stocks. Based on the results of Savient Pharma (SVNT) the rewards have clearly outweighed the risks. See previous post. Oh why didn't I include SVNT in the Opportunistic Portfolio???? Regardless the Growth Portfolio has seen some nice out performance demand on the back of SVNT being up 33%. Also noticed that the other biotechs in those portfolios have been perking up of late. All 3 stocks have seemed alot cheaper then the risk involved. Rigel Pharma (RIGL) and Cephalon (CEPH) have seen bullish trading of late. Not being predisposed to investing in this sector, we just found the valuations too compelling. RIGL is a clinical-stage drug development company that discovers and develops novel, sm...

After Hours, the FDA finally approved the gout drug Krystexxa in what seemed like an eternity. Savient Pharma (SVNT) had originally gotten an FDA Panel recommendation by the count of 14-1 way back in , but final FDA approval was delayed in August 2009 principally due to manufacturing issues. Gout is a common type of arthritis in which deposits of uric acid build up around joints, causing pain, swelling and stiffness.Considering the general lack of modern drugs for gout it has been generally accepted that this drug would have little issue in being put to use by doctors. There is a huge market waiting on the approval of this drug. Though it seemed apparent that the drug would be approved today the stock has languished in the $15 range for months. It last traded up 20% to around $18 after hours. SVNT is a 2.7% position in the Growth Portfolio so Stone Fox has a keen issue in following the trading tomorrow.. Below are some details from analysts regarding buyout prices. Remember the c...