Fampridine-SR
Trial Results Give A Lift To Biotech

What a difference a positive phase three clinical trial makes. Ask Acorda Therapeutics.
From its $6 initial public offering in February, Acorda's (ACOR) stock took a short-lived 15% leap, then went downhill to $2.20 at the end of September.
When the firm announced positive results from phase three trials of its multiple sclerosis drug, Fampridine-SR, on Sept. 25, the stock price nearly quadrupled in a day. Shares continued soaring and now trade near $16.
On Oct. 4, Acorda announced a private stock placement for $31.5 million to finance marketing. On Oct. 17, it said it'll double its sales force from 32 to 65.
It's unusual for a profitless biotech to have a sales force, let alone double it. But having its own sales force makes sense in this case, says analyst Caroline Stewart of Piper Jaffray, which has done business with Acorda.
Though it's a struggling biotech, Acorda does have a product to sell. It's called Zanaflex and is used to manage spasticity. Spasticity is a neurological disorder, as is multiple sclerosis. Many multiple sclerosis patients suffer from spasticity.
The same specialists treat both groups, Stewart says. "The sales force is already out there selling Zanaflex and developing relationships with neurologists for Fampridine-SR," Stewart said.
Zanaflex should bring in sales of $20 million this year and $30 million in 2007, analyst Elemer Piros of Rodman & Renshaw wrote in a research note.

That's pocket change compared with the potential of Fampridine-SR. Piros figures the drug could hit annual sales of $425 million by 2017, its last year of patent protection....MORE...Fampridine-SR

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