Dutton Associates, one of the largest independent investment research firms in the United States, today announced it is reiterating its “Strong Speculative Buy” rating with a higher price target of $1.50 for Neoprobe Corp. (OTCBB: NEOP), a biomedical company forecast to generate profit in the second half of 2010 with earnings per share of 12 cents for the full year.
Driving the projection is the company’s commercialization of Lymphoseek, a proprietary radiopharmaceutical currently in development for the identification of sentinel lymph nodes during lymph node biopsies to stage various tumor types, including breast, melanoma, and head and neck carcinomas.
Moving forward with its research, the company has initiated patient recruiting for the first of two phase III clinical trials for Lymphoseek, and expects to commence the second phase III trial in the third quarter. According to the 15-page report by Dutton & Associates, the delay in this second phase III trial from mid-year stems from the company’s efforts to harmonize the design of this trial to support marketing approval in both the United States and Europe.
“Lymphoseek has important clinical advantages over existing radiopharmaceuticals that are currently being used off-label for SLNBs. As the first radiopharmaceutical that may be specifically labeled for the indication, it may enjoy rapid uptake due to its unique labeling and potential for hospitals to access additional reimbursement codes from private and public insurers. The recent distribution letter of intent executed with DRAXIMAGE for Lymphoseek in the EU, Scandinavia, India, Turkey, and Canada could double addressable markets. Coupled with its distribution agreement with Cardinal Health, we believe Lymphoseek will penetrate roughly 10% of its current network of geographic markets for Lymphoseek during the second half of 2010,” senior analyst Dennis C. Fisher, CFA stated.
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