Rite Aid (RAD), the 3rd largest drugstore chain in the U.S., has grown through several major acquisitions over the years. In 2007, the firm purchased the Brooks and Eckerd chains, making it the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast.�
Unfortunately, the company took on the debt and integration issues from this major acquisition just as the country was headed into recession, and it has struggled to regain its footing ever since.
Under the leadership of CEO John Standley, Rite Aid has done the basic blocking and tackling needed to return to profitability. Standley, who had been an executive at Rite Aid in the early 2000��, returned to the company in 2008 after a stint leading the turnaround of Pathmark supermarkets. �
Hot Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (SRPT)
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc., formerly AVI BioPharma, Inc., incorporated on July 22, 1980, biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of ribonucleic acid (RNA)-based therapeutics for the treatment of rare and infectious diseases. The Company�� product candidates include Eteplirsen, AVI-6002, AVI-6003, and AVI-7100. As of December 31, 2011, the Company primarily focused on advancing the development of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug candidates, including its lead product candidate, eteplirsen, which is in a Phase IIb trial. The Company is also focused on developing therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases, including its lead infectious disease programs aimed at the development of drug candidates for the Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fever viruses. The Company's program focuses on the development of disease-modifying therapeutic candidates for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The Company initiated a Phase IIb trial for eteplirsen in August 2011 with an objective of initiating a pivotal trial subsequent to 2011.
The Company is also leveraging the capabilities of its RNA-based technology platforms to develop therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases. The Company's RNA-based drug programs are clinically evaluated for the treatment of DMD and have also demonstrated anti-viral activity in infectious diseases such as Ebola, Marburg and H1N1 influenza in certain animal models. The Company's lead product candidates are at various stages of development.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Program
The Company's lead program is designed to address specific gene mutations that result in DMD by forcing the genetic machinery to skip over an adjacent contiguous piece of RNA and, thus, restore the ability of the cell to express a new, truncated but functional, dystrophin protein.
Eteplirsen is an antisense PMO-based therapeutic in clinical development for the treatment of individuals with DMD who have an error in the gene codi! ng for dystrophin that can be treated by skipping exon 51. Eteplirsen targets the frequent series of mutations that cause DMD. Eteplirsen has been granted orphan drug designation in the United States and European Union. In addition to the Company's lead product candidate, eteplirsen, the Company is actively pursues development of a product candidate that skips exon 45 through an IND-enabling collaboration.
Anti-Viral Programs
The Company is implementing its RNA-based technology platforms in its anti-viral programs for the development of therapeutics to treat viruses, such as Ebola, Marburg and influenza. The Company's arrangement with DoD supporting the development of the Company's Ebola and Marburg virus drug candidates provides funding for all clinical and licensure activities necessary to obtain approval of a New Drug Application (NDA), by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), if DoD exercises all of its options under the arrangement. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company paused its clinical development efforts on AVI-7100 and is exploring funding opportunities or partnerships with DHHS and industry collaborators to advance its development.
The Company's anti-viral therapeutic programs use the Company's translation suppression technology and applies its PMOplus chemistry backbone, an advanced generation of its base PMO chemistry backbone that selectively introduces positive backbone charges to improve selective interaction between the drug and its target. The Company's translation suppressing technology is based on Translation Suppressing Oligomers (TSOs), which are PMO-based compounds that stop or suppress the translation of a specific protein by binding to their specific target sequence in mRNA.
The Company is pursuing development and regulatory approval of its Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fever virus product candidates under the FDA's Animal Rule. The Company's lead product candidate against the Ebola virus infec! tion is A! VI-6002. For Marburg virus infection, the Company's lead product candidate has been AVI-6003. In February 2012, the Company announced that the Company received approval from the FDA to remove one of the two oligomers composing AVI-6003 and proceed with a single oligomer approach, AVI-7288, given that efficacy in non-human primates has been demonstrated to be attributable to this single oligomer. The Company is exploring the feasibility of alternate routes of administration of its Ebola and Marburg drug candidates, and at DoD's invitation, the Company is developing a proposal to be submitted for a study to demonstrates feasibility of the intramuscular route.
AVI-6002, which is a combination of AVI-7537 and AVI-7539, is designed for post-exposure prophylaxis after documented or suspected exposure to the Ebola virus. The Company is evaluating the feasibility of developing AVI-7537 as a single agent for the post-exposure prophylaxis after documented or suspected exposure to Ebola virus. AVI-6003, which is a combination of AVI-7287 and AVI-7288, is designed for post-exposure prophylaxis after documented or suspected exposure to Marburg virus. In February 2012, the Company announced that the Company received approval from the FDA to proceed with AVI-7288 as a single agent against Marburg virus infection. The Company intends to proceed with dosing AVI-7288 in the Phase I multiple ascending dose studies and in non-human primate studies.
Influenza Program
The Company's anti-viral therapeutic programs are also focused on the development of the Company's product candidates designed to treat pandemic influenza viruses. AVI-7100 is the Company's lead product candidate for the treatment of influenza and employs its PMOplus technology. In June 2011, the Company initiated dosing of AVI-7100 through intravenous infusion in single-ascending doses in up to 48 healthy adult volunteers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company paused its clinical development efforts on AVI-7100 and are exp! loring fu! nding opportunities or partnerships to advance its development.
The Company has developed three new phosphorodiamidate-linked morpholino oligomers (PMO)-based chemistry platforms in addition to its original PMO-based technology. The Company's PMO-based molecules are designed to sterically block the access of cellular machinery to pre-mRNA and mRNA without degrading the RNA. Through this selective targeting, two distinct biologic mechanisms of action can be initiated: modulation of pre-mRNA splicing and inhibition of mRNA translation.
The Company competes with GlaxoSmithKline plc, Toyama Chemical, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp., Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Prosensa, and Santaris Pharma A/S.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By TheStreet Staff]
Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) will have another big year, with an accelerated approval filing mid-year for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug eteplirsen in the U.S. and a significant and lucrative ex-U.S. partnership for the company's exon-skipping drug technology platform.
Hot Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: PIMCO Municipal Income Fund(PMF)
PIMCO Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in investment grade municipal bonds. The fund employs fundamental analysis with a top down stock picking approach to create its portfolio. It conducts in house research using proprietary models. PIMCO Municipal Income Fund was formed on June 29, 2001 and is domiciled in the United States.
Top Financial Companies To Invest In 2014: Cobar Consolidated Resources Ltd(CCU.AX)
Cobar Consolidated Resources Limited engages in the exploration and development of base and precious metals in Australia. It has 1,371 square kilometers of tenement interests on the western margin of the Cobar basin in western New South Wales. The company primarily focuses on developing the Wonawinta silver project in the Cobar basin in western New South Wales. It also has exploration projects, including the Gundaroo project, the Winduck Super project, the McKinnons gold deposit, and the Goldwing project. The company is based in Melbourne, Australia.
Hot Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Medallion Resources Ltd. (MDL.V)
Medallion Resources Ltd., a junior resource company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of mineral properties. It evaluates the potential of rare earths, primarily mineral sand-based monazite deposits in the Indian Ocean basin. The company holds interests in the Red Wine heavy-rare-earth elements project, which consists of 7 mineral licenses in 4 groups covering an area of 46.5 square kilometers in southern Labrador, Canada. Medallion Resources Ltd. is based in Vancouver, Canada.
Hot Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: QUALCOMM Incorporated(QCOM)
QUALCOMM Incorporated engages in the development, design, manufacture, and marketing of digital wireless telecommunications products and services. The company operates in four segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT), Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL), Qualcomm Wireless and Internet (QWI), and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI). The QCT segment develops and supplies code division multiple access (CDMA)-based integrated circuits and system software for wireless voice and data communications, multimedia functions and global positioning system products. The QTL segment grants licenses to use portions of its intellectual property portfolio comprising patent rights useful in the manufacture and sale of wireless products, such as products implementing cdmaOne, CDMA2000, WCDMA, CDMA TDD, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, and/or OFDMA standards and their derivatives The QWI segment consists of Qualcomm Internet Services that provides content enablement services for the wireless industry and pu sh-to-talk and other products and services for wireless network operators; Qualcomm Government Technologies, which offers development, hardware, and analytical services to the United States government agencies involving wireless communications technologies; Qualcomm Enterprise Services that provides satellite and terrestrial-based two-way data messaging, position reporting, wireless application services, and managed data services to transportation and logistics companies and other enterprise companies; and Firethorn, which builds and manages software applications that enable mobile commerce services. The QSI segment makes strategic investments to support the worldwide adoption of CDMA- and OFDMA-based technologies and services. QUALCOMM Incorporated primarily operates in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in San Diego, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James K. Glassman]
When anyone buys a smart phone, chances are the coffers at Qualcomm (symbol: QCOM) go ka-ching. That's because the San Diego firm created the 3G technology used in many of those devices. Qualcomm is also a leader in 4G technologies. It makes money selling the chips that drive many high-speed wireless phones and tablets. It also collects royalties from device makers that use its technology. The stock sells for 15 times estimated profits for the current fiscal year -- not expensive for a company that analysts think can generate 14% annual earnings growth over the next few years.
Hot Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sparton Resources Inc (SRI.V)
Sparton Resources Inc. engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties. The company holds interest in the Chebucto SDL, a natural gas field located in the Sable Island area of offshore Nova Scotia, Canada; and the ARCN Project, a secondary uranium recovery program located in the in Yunnan Province, China. It also holds interest in the SBD Gold Project located in the Lander County, Nevada; and the Huajun 306 Germanium Coal Mine located in the Yunnan Province, China. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
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