Vivus Soars 14 Percent On Positive Qsymia Pill Results

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The stock price of VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) climbed by more than 14 percent after two health care research firms released reports indicating a sales growth in Qsymia pill.

Vivus Soars 14 Percent On Positive Qsymia Pill Results

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) stock price climbed  13.89 percent to $13.07 per share during the afternoon trading on Monday due to the improved sales performance in weekly prescriptions for its Qsymia pill; a weight loss prescription medication for obese adults.

Two health care research firms released reports indicating that the sales of Qsymia increased in November, but their figures were different. Data from Symphony Health Solutions showed Qsymia’s sales for the week that ended November 12 jumped by 44 percent.

On the other hand, IMS Health said VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) sales for the pill increased by 15 percent during the same period.

Simos Simeonidis, analyst at Cowen & Co said, he does not trust the figures released by the two health care research firms because of the discrepancy in figures. According to him, “”Given the discrepancy between vendors’ numbers and actual scripts in 3Q12 … we don’t trust these script numbers 100 percent and we’ll only get comfortable with them once we see 4Q12 results in late February.”

In addition, Simeonidis believed that the stock value of VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) would experience an up and down movement in the first few months. He said, “We’ll probably have quite a few more up-and-down weeks in the first few months, not only in terms of scripts reported, but especially in terms of investor sentiment, possibly due to unrealistic expectations on either side of the aisle.”

Earlier in November, VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) reported that its initial sales for the Qsymia pill were below the estimates of analysts, which drove the stock value of the company to plummet. Since the report, the stock price of Vivus dropped by 23 percent.

Simeonidis initiated a “neutral” rating on Vivus stock with a price target of $11.48 per share.

Hedge fund manager, John Burbank of Passport Capital is the largest shareholder in Vivus Inc. He believes that Vivus is a compelling take-out candidate for a major pharmaceutical company, citing that nearly 36 percent of adults and 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese in the United States, based on the recent statistics from the Centers for Diseases Control. According to him, Vivus drug against obesity is important.

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