Fortunes Being Made in Small-Cap Pharmaceutical Stocks

Tickerspy’s Diabetes Index

DIABETES INVESTING IDEAS

• Popular long ideas: GNBT, NVO, MNKD
• Popular short ideas: GNBT, MNKD, ARRY
• Top dividend plays: NVO
• Pro favorites: NVO, DEPO, PODD

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DIABETES COVERAGE

These medical firms have significant exposure to treatments and therapies for diabetes

• Merck Hikes Diabetes Exposure Via Acquisition (MRK, JNJ, DEPO, ARRY, MNKD, SPEX, BIOD, AMLN, GNBT, ALKS, LLY, ARNA)
• Sharp Rebound for MannKind, Generex (GNBT, MNKD, SPEX, AMLN, NVO, ARRY)
• Home Diagnostics Buyout Powers Diabetes Segment (HDIX, ARRY, NVO, GNBT, AMLN, MNKD)

DIABETES CHART

DIABETES METRICS

Avg. Market Cap:	$10.8B
Avg. P/E Ratio:	0.0
Avg. Div Yield:	0.1%

Small-cap drug makers are making breakthroughs left and right in 2009.

Menlo Park, California-based DepoMed (DEPO) currently has drugs on the market for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and uncomplicated urinary tract infections. Based on results from its latest clinical trials, the company’s DM-1976 experimental pain drug could be next.

According to a press release, the drug “achieved a statistically significant reduction of pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia” in a late-stage trial. The company expects to submit a new drug application to the FDA by the end of Q1 2010.

DepoMed’s 27% rally is helping the Diabetes Stocks Index higher today. The Index has now outperformed the S&P 500 by 17.5% over the last month.

Clinical stage pharmaceutical player Mankind (MNKD) and Home Diagnostics (HDIX) have also tacked on double-digit gains over the last month. The latter specializes in blood glucose monitoring systems and disposable supplies for diabetics.

Elsewhere in the small-cap pharmaceutical market, Opexa (OPXA) and Neuralstem (CUR) have helped carry the Stem Cell Stocks Index to monthly gains, while Osiris (OSIR) and StemCells (STEM) have weighed on the sector’s performance.

Investors can also look for action in the Swine and Bird Flu Stocks Index, where AVI Biopharma (AVII) is running by 25% today on news related to its Junin virus drug candidate.

As of this writing, the Diabetes Stocks Index is on top of tickerspy’s one-month performance rankings, up by 18.7%.

Tags: AVII, CUR, DEPO, HDIX, MNKD, OPXA, OSIR, STEM