Three straight days of closing ahead has the AEterna Zentaris chart on watch for continued upward pressure. Shares rose 8.5 percent on Tuesday to close near the high of the day on increased volume, which is a bullish sign as the stock nears resistance. Shares traded as low as $1.75 last week, but have recovered to close on Tuesday at $2.16 on Read More

The path to bring a new cancer drug to market can certainly be a long and bumpy road full of twists and turns.  It was about one month ago that the news hit of Aeterna Zentaris (TSX: AEZ)(NASDAQ: AEZS) and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX) terminating their license agreement with respect to perifosine, an Akt inhibiting oral anticancer compound; giving back full North American rights to Aeterna. Read More

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KERX) reported recently that a manuscript entitled “Randomized Placebo-Controlled Phase II Trial of Perifosine Plus Capecitabine as Second- or Third-Line Therapy in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer” reporting Phase 2 activity of KRX-0401 (perifosine) in the treatment of patients with refractory, advanced colorectal cancer (mCRC), was selected for publication in the October 3, 2011 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.  Efficacy data from this study was presented in June 2010 at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

According to the press release on Keryx’s website,

“Based on the data, in which the combination of P-CAP demonstrated statistical significance with respect to median overall survival and median time to tumor progression, the investigators concluded that the P-CAP combination showed promising clinical activity compared to single-agent capecitabine, and that the difference in clinical outcome seen with the addition of perifosine was impressive.”

KRX-0401 (perifosine) is in-licensed by Keryx from Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ:AEZS) in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) Stock Quote and News:

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Michael J. Ray, a contributor to Seeking Alpha, penned an interesting article yesterday titled “2 Healthcare Stocks With Upside Potential” for his SA blog.  Briefly discussing pros and cons of speculative investing in biotechnology companies, Mr. Ray notes two companies of particular interest which could reap nice rewards in the future, Antares Pharma (AMEX:AIS) and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KERX, StockTwits: $KERX).  Without going into great length about the Keryx pipeline, Ray provides a succinct explanation about the value proposition presented by KERX.  With regards to perifosine, the Company’s drug in development as a therapy to treat advanced colorectal cancer and multiple myeloma, Ray states,

“If KERX can get FDA final approval and become a new standard of care, then the price per share will be well above the current $5 level where it trades now. Needless to say, the company would become a buyout candidate as well.”

Commenting on Zerenex, Keryx’s oral compound as an indication for end stage renal disease presently in Phase III trials, Ray explains,

The market for a product like this is very robust. In just the United States some 485,000 people are afflicted with end stage renal disease. By the year 2020 this number should increase by over 60% to and estimated 785,000. Needless to say, the stock price will react very positively if Keryx can get final FDA approval and get their product to market.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) Stock Quote and News:

Antares Pharmaceutical, Inc. (AIS) Stock Quote and News:

As Phase III trials continue to advance, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KERX, StockTwits: $KERX) is finding itself the subject of analyst reports and articles penned by biotech writers.  Recently, an article on Street Insider noted an Oppenheimer’s Boris Peaker initiating coverage on Keryx with an “outperform” rating and a $7 price target.

Seeking Alpha biotech contributor VFC’s Stock House also authored an article explaining an expected rise in shares of KERX as clinical trials head towards conclusion.  VFC also remarked on MLV Capital initiating coverage on Keryx this month with a “Buy” rating.  Concluding the article, the author stated,

“For the time being, I still see a push higher leading into Phase III results, especially with the stock receiving the additional attention of the recent analyst coverage.”

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals is focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important pharmaceutical products for the treatment of cancer and renal disease. Keryx is developing KRX-0401 (perifosine), a novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, and also affects a number of other key signal transduction pathways, including the JNK pathway, all of which are pathways associated with programmed cell death, cell growth, cell differentiation and cell survival. KRX-0401 has demonstrated both safety and clinical efficacy in several tumor types, both as a single agent and in combination with approved therapies. KRX-0401 is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for both refractory advanced colorectal cancer and multiple myeloma, and in Phase 1 and 2 clinical development for several other tumor types. Each of the KRX-0401 Phase 3 studies is being conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA. Keryx is also developing Zerenex (ferric citrate), an oral, ferric iron-based compound that has the capacity to bind to phosphate and form non-absorbable complexes. The Phase 3 clinical program of Zerenex for the treatment for hyperphosphatemia (elevated phosphate levels) in patients with end-stage renal disease on dialysis is being conducted pursuant to an SPA agreement with the FDA. Keryx is headquartered in New York City.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) Stock Quote and News:

Zacks.com, a leader in investment research, has aptly noted the recent uptrend in the share price of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals over the last several weeks.  Zack’s “SmarTrend” analyzes over 5,000 securities simultaneously throughout the trading day and provides its subscribers with trend change alerts in real time.

According to Zack’s commentary on April 5, 2011,

“In the past 52 weeks, shares of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals have traded between a low of $3.03 and a high of $6.67 and are now at $5.05, which is 67% above that low price.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals is currently above its 50-day moving average of $4.19 and above its 200-day moving average of $4.38. Look for these moving averages to climb to confirm the company’s upward momentum.

In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day MA has climbed 1.72% while the 200-day MA has risen 0.28%.”

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals is focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important pharmaceutical products for the treatment of cancer and renal disease. Keryx is developing KRX-0401 (perifosine), a novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, and also affects a number of other key signal transduction pathways, including the JNK pathway, all of which are pathways associated with programmed cell death, cell growth, cell differentiation and cell survival. KRX-0401 has demonstrated both safety and clinical efficacy in several tumor types, both as a single agent and in combination with novel therapies. KRX-0401 is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for both refractory advanced colorectal cancer and multiple myeloma, and in Phase 1 and 2 clinical development for several other tumor types. Each of the KRX-0401 Phase 3 studies is being conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA. Keryx is also developing Zerenex (ferric citrate), an oral, ferric iron-based compound that has the capacity to bind to phosphate and form non-absorbable complexes. The Phase 3 clinical program of Zerenex in the treatment for hyperphosphatemia (elevated phosphate levels) in patients with end-stage renal disease is being conducted pursuant to an SPA agreement with the FDA. Keryx is headquartered in New York City.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) Stock Quote and News: