QLT, Inc. (USA) (QLTI)

They've put all their eggs in one basket -- Visudyne -- but that basket is sitting on a pile of cash.

Little debt, strong financial position

Cash / Share 2.22 > Price / Share 2.02
Book / Share 4.60 > Price / Share 2.02
Debts = 0

Tough Call Ya ..

no debt and trading for less than cash.

I picked this because of the favorable prospects of the industry, and this looks like a cheap diamond among expensive pebbles.

Ripping off TMFSmashy

Hired Goldman Sachs to sell Eligard. The company bought back their convertible notes and are now debt-free. Since the stock is trading approximately at cash per share, an Eligard sale is a free boost to the stock price. They also have at least one glaucoma drug in development.

2 Star rating w/ P/E Ratio of 21.12 following a significant drop in market (S&P @ 907). Price above 52 wk low w/ a range of 2.00-5.18. Currently below the SPY by about 10%. Hold till price reaches about $8.00 and re-evaluate.

Sales Visadyn seem to have bottomed worldwide and the combination therapies to treat macular degeneration seems to be gaining traction. Company has sold off none core assets and the future looks somewhat brighter.

competition with Avastin

Analysts are expecting the call and announcements this week to be very positive for this Canadian pharm company. An industry poised for growth, good reputation, and strong competitive advantage makes me think they will be alright (pending no trial disasters).

No new drugs, high inherent risk, pending legal action.

THE markeet is slow these days eventually it will run smoth in these term i just put in.

I had this pick in my blog and gave it a good rating. Darn it couldnt get in with this bang because too occupied getting out of financials.
But I called it on my pharma blog.

DARN IT MISSED THE BOAT BUT PICKING ANYWAYS.

QLT (QLTI) CEO and Others Purchase Shares
10-29-2007 10:52:14 AM

After the close Friday, QLT Inc. (Nasdaq: QLTI) CEO, Robert L. Butchofsky, disclosed a purchase of 39,847 shares on 10/26 at prices from $4.40-$4.65, bringing his stake to 74,847 shares.

Director, Boyd Clarke, disclosed a purchase of 14,000 shares and CFO, Cameron R. Nelson, disclosed a purchase of 6,000 shares.

a company who is supposed to help treat age related macular degeneration, but is blind-sided by it's drug's relative ineffectiveness. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

QLT Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing treatments for eye diseases as well as dermatological and urological conditions. The company along with its subsidiaries has expertise in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative drug therapies with two of its unique technology platforms, photodynamic therapy and Atrigel, to create products such as Visudyne and Eligard.

QLT has been succumbing under the pressure of patent infringement. However, the company had to end up with costly deal in which it agreed to pay $113 million in order to settle a patent infringement lawsuit filed by TAP Pharmaceuticals over QLT’s sales of its prostate cancer treatment Eligard. More recently the company has made settlement with Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI), which would ease off the prolonged litigation environment since 2001. This would provide the much-needed breather for QLT.

But the company’s problem is not alone restricted to infringement litigation. Its sales has been dwindling on account increased competition, which is clearly reflected from the fact that it’s revenue from Visudyne for fiscal 2006 were just $129.4 million, a decrease of 31%. The severity of this problem is being felt by QLT, as it generates more than 85% of its product revenue from Visudyne.

The culprit for this stiff competition is Avastin (bevacizumab) from Genentech which is being extensively used by physicians as off-label treatment for wet age related macular degeneration (AMD). Lucentis and Avastin had a material negative impact on Visudyne sales in the U.S. in 2006 and are expected to eat the market share of Visudyne as these products are going to be available in other countries. Moreover, Novartis Ophthalmics, Genentech’s marketing partner for Lucentis outside the U.S., announced that it had received approval to market Lucentis in the European Union for the treatment of wet AMD, which would intensify competition in the European market as well.

The declining sales trend for QLT provides an apparent signal for investors to stay away from the company at least for the coming year.

Glad I sold before it went down even furthe