3SOF

news update:
ViroPharma Announces New Health Initiatives to Combat Clostridium difficile- Associated Disease and Related Disorders
Tuesday October 17, 9:00 am ET
- Continued Epidemic of Severe Disease Highlights Need for New CDAD Epidemiology, Infection Control, and Patient Data -

EXTON, Pa., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ViroPharma Incorporated (Nasdaq: VPHM - News) today announced the launch of several new health initiatives to combat the Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD), an epidemic that has now spread to over 20 states. The epidemic continues to claim many lives and has attracted significant attention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The National Institute for Health, and professional medical societies such as the Infectious Disease Society of America. Most of the concern has centered on the spread of a new "hyper-virulent" strain of the bacteria that is largely resistant to a common antibiotic group known as 'fluoroquinolones' and produces up to 24 times the amount of C. difficile toxin as previously identified strains. Infection with this strain can lead to severe disease that rapidly progresses, and can result in death within days of disease presentation.

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CDAD historically has affected primarily elderly patients who are frequently hospitalized and often administered broad spectrum antibiotics. These antibiotics can kill off so-called "good bacteria" that naturally reside in the gastrointestinal tract and keep "bad bugs" in check. Once these good bacteria are gone, patients are at risk of acquiring a common, dangerous, and highly infectious nosocomial infection caused by a bacterium called C. difficile. These bacteria form highly durable and infectious spores which may contaminate patients' skin and environmental surfaces. These infectious spores are then easily transmitted from patient to patient on healthcare workers' hands, or by contacting contaminated surfaces.

According the CDC, over the past two years, several states have reported increased rates of CDAD, noting more severe disease and an associated increase in morbidity and mortality. Overall C. difficile disease rates in U.S. acute care hospitals have more than doubled since 2000.

"The Clostridium difficile organism is a difficult bacteria to culture and type, and the disease it causes is even more difficult to manage; once an institution starts to see an outbreak of infection spread through their patients, it is very difficult to eradicate - the best one can hope for are more effective measures to help control the rate of infection," commented Dale Gerding, M.D., associate chief of staff for research at the Hines VA Hospital. "Today's disease is simply different than in the past. Far more patients are getting extremely sick, many of whom would have in the past been at little to no risk of disease. There are more cases of severe, life-threatening disease today than ever before, especially in the very elderly patients. There is a great need for additional data on the epidemiology of CDAD, the characteristics of the epidemic organisms, and on the patients suffering from this disease. What we can learn today will help to improve surveillance, increase outbreak control and prevention, and establish safe and effective treatments for these patients."

ViroPharma is pleased to work with leading physicians towards several investigator-lead trials, including:

     -- Identifying the epidemic strain -- Culture, Typing, PCR and
        Susceptibility of Clostridium difficile from Clinical Specimens:
        Current methods of detecting and diagnosing CDAD usually do not enable
        the identification of the hyper-virulent, epidemic strain of C.
        difficile. As a result, health care providers may not be aggressive
        enough in implementing control measures to control the spread of this
        deadly strain.  To provide a better understanding of C. difficile
        epidemiology, molecular microbiology, and susceptibility to various
        drugs, the Hines VA Hospital has established a Microbiology Reference
        Laboratory (MRL), which will aid institutions in typing strains of the
        bacterium and perform susceptibility testing of C. difficile in an
        effort to improve detection and management strategies for dealing with
        the epidemic strain.

     -- Adding data on infection control -- Shedding of Clostridium difficile
        and other nosocomial pathogens during and after treatment of C.
        difficile-associated diarrhea with vancomycin versus metronidazole:
        During the course of CDAD, infectious spores are easily passed from
        patient to patient on physician hands and hospital surfaces.
        Hospitalized patients with CDAD may frequently have concomitant
        intestinal colonization with pathogens including vancomycin-resistant
        enterococci (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
        (MRSA) that can also be shed onto skin and environmental surfaces.
        This study will examine the hypothesis that treatment of CDAD with
        oral vancomycin may be associated with decreased shedding of C.
        difficile spores in comparison to treatment with metronidazole, and
        improved inhibition of coexisting S. aureus colonization.  These data
        will help elucidate how C. difficile is shed into the environment, and
        improve C. difficile, VRE and MRSA infection control methods.

     -- How does CDAD affect the gastrointestinal tract? -- Exploratory Study
        of the Gastrointestinal Environment in Patients with Clostridium
        difficile-Associated Disease (CDAD):  The physiology of the
        gastrointestinal tract of a patient with CDAD is complex and not well
        described.  Factors which may influence performance and contribute to
        the effective and consistent delivery of effective therapy - including
        core body temperature, changes in pH over the length of the
        gastrointestinal tract, and gastrointestinal motility or flow volumes
        - need to be studied.  The purpose of this study is to examine the
        intestinal environment of patients with CDAD and compare the findings
        to a population of healthy subjects.  This study will utilize a
        "SmartPill® GI Monitoring System" which measures gastrointestinal pH
        and transit times. The data derived from this study will provide a new
        basis of understanding the environment of the gastrointestinal tract
        of patients with CDAD, and provide new data to better understand the
        potential relevance for dissolution and solubility of anti-infective
        therapy in these patients.

     -- Other related gastrointestinal disorders -- A Pilot Trial of Oral
        Vancocin® in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: Primary sclerosing
        cholangitis, or PSC (also known as "Walter Payton Disease"), is a
        disease primarily of the bile ducts, both inside and outside the
        liver. As disease progresses, the walls of the bile ducts become
        inflamed which causes scarring and hardening that narrows and largely
        blocks the bile ducts.  Because bile cannot drain properly through the
        ducts, it accumulates in the liver causing damage to the organ. With
        long-term cell damage, the liver can develop cirrhosis and may no
        longer function properly.  PSC also appears to be associated with
        ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease.  While
        researchers do not know what causes PSC, among the theories under
        investigation is the possible role of bacterial flora and how
        modification by Vancocin might influence this disease.

"It is especially important today to dedicate efforts toward better understanding CDAD, how it is spread, and the patients themselves who are at risk of CDAD and other clinical manifestations of the disease," stated Michel de Rosen, ViroPharma's president and chief executive officer. "As a leader in the development of treatments for CDAD, it is our responsibility to take the additional steps needed to better understand this new epidemic and provide education to medical professionals who are responsible for diagnosing and treating affected patients. Through these valuable programs, many of which have been in the planning phases for some time, ViroPharma is continuing to do its part in the healthcare community to address the spread of this life- threatening disease."

&

ViroPharma Conference Call
Scheduled to start Wed, Oct 25, 2006, 5:00 pm Eastern

nice chart:
- break out from bollinger bands
- golden cross coming soon
- MACD positiv
- RSI positiv

All things go!!!  Bought the breakout from recent trading range today, I think VPHM is looking good and should have a good week!

Much props for all your work on the VPHM thread, Oliver, and bringing people's attention back to it!!

Have my firewall and add blockers  turned off but can never see images in line here..so cannot post an in line image either as there is no image button..weird as all other SMF boards work fine

anyway the longer term view showing the bo

http://tinyurl.com/yfqh6v

thanks for your feedback 

Briefing.com:
Viropharma (VPHM 13.22) broke out of its late March-Oct range
yesterday, and today the stock set a new 7-month high. VPHM is
trading at its best levels since it was nearly cut in half in March,
due to concerns that generic versions of the co's Vancocin drug
could come earlier than expected. VPHM has recently traded above its
50-day and 200-day moving averages, and continued strength could set
the stock up for a move back toward the late-2005 reaction lows of
~15.50. VPHM's only marketed product is Vancocin, which is used to
treat bacterial infections of the lower digestive tract. VPHM is
also developing maribavir for prevention of cytomegalovirus
infection, as well as a hepatitis C compound, HCV-796.

from yahoo board:

Hey La-Onda,

Thanks again for the continued updates - I'm really liking the look of VPHM right now.  Looking at the 1 year chart it is clear how siginificant this weeks move is, breaking above the late march high and into the (sort of) gap from when it collapsed.  As you note, there is a lot of potential news on the way and I suspect we will see some kind of positive continuation in anticipation of next week's CC.

Right now we are sitting above double support at 13.20, and then 12.85, which should (hopefully) keep the price above $13, but I want to see a strong continuation towards my short term target of$15.50 (November's lows).  Terliso's 50SMA, 200EMA and 200SMA are coming into alignment now, and we have a well validated ascending trendline.

I haven't decided if I will sell the news next week (particularly as I see this as a short term play for me) - depends on what the price action is up to, but I hope all the best for us in both the short and long term - I would not be surprised if VPHM is trading back above $20 by the end of the year

The ViroPharma Earnings Conference Call (Q3 2006) is Scheduled to start Thu, Nov 2, 2006, 9:00 am Eastern, so we may have almost two weeks to decide to get out or not before this call

jorgegr

additional profit for VPHM:
Nice little profit earned by VPHM today if they held on to the SIGA
shares. As of June 30, they were holding the shares.

Per the 10-Q.
""Short-term investments consist of fixed income securities with
remaining maturities of greater than three months at the date of
purchase, debt securities and our marketable securities investment
in SIGA. At June 30, 2006 and December 31, 2005, all of the short-
term investments were classified as available for sale investments.

The unrealized losses, which have been experienced for less than
twelve months as of June 30, 2006, have been deemed not to be other-
than-temporary due to the nature of the debt securities and
announcements by SIGA on developments in its clinical trials and an
equity offering, which provide reassurance as to the near-term
prospects of SIGA. The Company has the ability and intent to hold
these investments for a period of time sufficient to recover the
fair value of the investments."

Will VPHM hold or will they sell thier SIGA investment?

awesome to read :
Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff:

http://thestockmasters.com/stock_vphm_10192006_1.asp

......
Taking a quote from Pamela Anderson:
I don't really think about anything too much. I live in the present. I move on. I don't think about what happened yesterday. If I think too much, it kind of freaks me out.
Be like Pam - stop freaking out and realize that VPHM is trading on the lower end of its 52 week range of $7.07 to $24.36. They report Q3 earnings on November 2nd, so now could be the right time to live in the present, buy the stock, and move on.

La-onda you are nothing less than Tasmanian devil with your speed of updates
appalud

update 
Live In Play


26-Oct-06
10:39 VPHM ViroPharma: Physician experts outline substantial market
opportunity for Maribavir - Lazard (13.22 -0.27)

Lazard notes physician experts highlight need for new agents in both solid organ and stem cell transplantation.
Firm believes VPHM's Maribavir may double the current $350 mln market based on higher price, a shift to universal prophylactic use, and longer duration of use.
Firm says preliminary Phase II data compelling as they expect full data at ASH in Dec and expect recently initiated Phase III studies to be positive (but probably not as striking as Phase II where the incidence of CMV in the treatment arms was zero).
Firm notes catalysts as a Maribavir Phase III trial in SOT initiation in 4Q06; a decision from the OGD/FDA on Vancomycin generic drug applications; a Maribavir European partnership in 4Q06.

Piper Jaffray informations 

ViroPharma 3Q Profit Jumps 25 Percent
Thursday November 2, 10:54 am ET
Where Vancocin Sales Go, So Goes ViroPharma -- Both Are Up in the Third Quarter

EXTON, Pa. (AP) -- ViroPharma Inc. said Thursday third-quarter earnings added 25 percent as sales of its leading antibiotic, Vancocin, rose by half.
Net income climbed to $23.3 million, or 33 cents per share, from $18.7 million, or 31 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 25 cents per share.
Revenue rose 54 percent to $55.2 million from $35.8 million last year. Vancocin, an antibiotic for Staph infections, accounted for nearly all of the total as prescriptions grew 20 percent from last year. The Street was looking for revenue of $44.9 million.
Looking ahead, the company expects product sales between $162 million and $170 million in 2006.
ViroPharma shares rose 25 cents, or 2 percent, to $13.03 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where it has ranged from $7.07 to $24.36 in the past 52 weeks.

fyi
ViroPharma: 3Q Vancocin sales very strong; efforts to reinstate requirement for clinical trials of Vancocin may be going better than stated - Lazard (12.98 +0.20) -Update-

Lazard notes VPHM reported Q3 EPS of $0.33 vs. their est of $0.26, including stock option expense. Firm notes Vancocin sales were $55.1 mln, above firm's est of $46 mln due mainly to approx $8 mln in wholesaler buying ahead of an anticipated price increase. Firm says efforts by the co to reinstate the requirement for clinical trials for potential generic oral Vancocin may be going better than the co has publicly stated. Firm says new rules from ODG say "Critical Path" for generic approval does not include oral Vancocin.

Hello la-onda, I see you're still a big fan of VPHM 

It's curious to see that the share price is nearly the same as it was back on it's IPO ten years ago. In the meantime revenues grew from $0 to an estimate of $164.79 M this year. It makes me concerned about having a longer term perspective. Fundamentals can improve dramatically without the share price advancing. A company's development and its share price aren't always tied together as one might think.

Actually I'm developing a "theory" on why this happens so many times ... I'll be around to share it with anyone interested.

Nice to see you, thanks for your personal messages of support 

Welcome 'back' David!