ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: ANX) is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 1995 and based in San Diego, California, which focuses on in-licensing, developing, and commercializing proprietary product candidates for the treatment of cancer. The Company recently submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its product candidate ANX-530, a novel emulsion formulation of chemotherapy drug Vinorelbine to treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer as a single agent or in combination with Cisplatin, as well as to treat advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
If approved, ANX-530 threatens to take market share away from several bigger pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline. This could mean a huge upside to the current share price, especially since the Company has no debt and a low float, as well as millions in cash on hand. Among ADVENTRX’s top institutional holders are Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital Management, Renaissance Technologies, UBS AG, the Bank of New York Mellon and Barclay’s Global Investors. Beacon Equity Research has the stock listed as “Bullish.”
The Company’s Principal Executive Officer, Brian M. Culley, will present at the OneMedForum Finance Conference on Wednesday, January 13, 2010. Mr. Culley will discuss ANX-530 as well as another late-stage product candidate, ANX-514 (3 Billion existing market), which is a novel emulsion formulation of the chemotherapy drug Docetaxel for the treatment of breast, non-small cell lung, prostate, gastric, and head and neck cancers.
When interviewed for this article, Principal Executive Officer, Brian Culley was asked about Carl Icahn’s interest in the company. Mr. Culley confirmed, “We are well aware that Carl Icahn is a substantial stockholder in ADVENTRX.” He went on to add, “In fact, the Icahn affiliates are entitled to have one seat on our board of directors.”
Shares of ANX have been volatile amid news of takeover rumors recently reported by Fox Business. When asked about the takeover rumors, Mr. Culley responded, “No comment.” This will only serve to fuel the speculation.
Disclosure: Writer is Long ANX, but receives no compensation from the company.
