Lilly to donate insulin pens to low-income Americans

Starting this month, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) will donate at least 200K KwikPens to three relief organizations – Americares, Direct Relief and Dispensary of Hope – to stock ~200 free health clinics in the U.S. for lower-income diabetics who qualify for free clinic services.

Separately, the company is providing $2M to fund programs aimed at informing diabetics about available resources that can help them acquire medical care, insurance coverage, medicines and more. The relief agencies will distribute the funds to free clinics in the form of grants.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3535096-lilly-to-donate-insulin-pens-to-low-income-americans

Seelos up on advancement of second gene therapy for Parkinson’s

Nano cap Seelos Therapeutics (SEEL +7%) is up out of the gate this morning in reaction to its update on SLS-007, its second gene therapy candidate for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

An in vivo study delivering SLS-007, a family of peptidic inhibitors designed to block the aggregation of α-synuclein in the brain, via an adeno-associated virus (AAV) is set to begin. Data to determine delivery and target engagement should be available in H2.

The company’s other PD candidate, SLS-004, is an all-in-one lentiviral gene therapy that targets the gene that encodes for the production of α-synuclein.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3535150-seelos-up-7-on-advancement-of-second-gene-therapy-for-parkinsons

Ocean Bio-Chem joins coronavirus rall

Ultra-thinly traded nano cap Ocean Bio-Chem (OBCI +35.8%) is the latest tiny medical company to ride the wave of coronavirus outbreak-related buying.

In this case, it announced that subsidiary Star Brite’s disinfectant Performacide is registered with the EPA as a viricide effective against coronavirus when used as directed in the home or workplace.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3535155-ocean-bio-chem-joins-coronavirus-rally-shares-up-36

HCA Q4 beat buoys hospital chains

Hospital operators are in the green after HCA reported better-than-expected Q4 results.

Selected tickers: Universal Health Services (UHS +1.3%), Surgery Partners (SGRY +0.7%), Select Medical Holdings (SEM +2.8%), Tenet Healthcare (THC +4.8%), Community Health Systems (CYH +3.4%), Humana (HUM +2%)

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3535219-hca-q4-beat-buoys-hospital-chains

FDA OKs Teva autoinjector for Ajovy

The FDA has approved an autoinjector device for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ (NYSE:TEVA) migraine med Ajovy (fremanezumab-vfrm). Market launch will commence in the coming months.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3535397-fda-oks-teva-autoinjector-for-ajovy

Akcea Therapeutics up 6% after hours on positive AKCEA-ANGPTL3-Lrx data

Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKCA) and majority owner Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) announce positive results from a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating antisense oligonucleotide AKCEA-ANGPTL3-L_Rx in patients with hypertriglyceridemia, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

The study met the primary endpoint of significant triglyceride lowering and multiple secondary endpoints with a favorable safety and tolerability profile.

There were statistically significant dose-dependent reductions in fasting triglycerides at all dose levels compared to placebo.

There were dose-dependent reductions in ANGPTL3, apoC-III, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL-C), non-HDL cholesterol and total cholesterol compared to placebo.

No reductions were observed in liver fat or HbA1C levels versus placebo.

Detailed results will be submitted for presentation at a future medical conference.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3535413-akcea-therapeutics-up-6-after-hours-on-positive-akcea-angptl3-lrx-data

Stryker Q4 non-GAAP earnings up 15%

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Q4 results:

Sales: $4,131M (+8.8%); Orthopedics: $1,467M (+6.7%); MedSurg: $1,837M (+6.8%); Neurotech and Spine: $827M (+18.0%).

Net income: $725M (-64.9%); non-GAAP net income: $948M(+14.5%); EPS: $1.90 (-65.1%); non-GAAP EPS: $2.49 (+14.2%).

Cash flow ops (full year): $2,191M (-16.1%).

Q1 guidance: Non-GAAP EPS: $2.05 – 2.10.

2020 guidance: Sales growth: 6.5 – 7.5%; non-GAAP EPS: $9.00 – 9.20.

Stryker EPS beats by $0.03, beats on revenue

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3535431-stryker-q4-non-gaap-earnings-up-15