Day Trader's Alert: PAR, DTPI, AVII

Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL) is preparing to sweeten its bid for data-storage firm 3PAR Inc (NYSE: PAR), according to a Bloomberg report. The move comes a day after Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) bid $1.6 billion for the data storage company. Shares of 3Par jumped more than 3% in pre-market action.

Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTPI) on Tuesday agreed to be acquired by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for $12.50 per share in cash. The transaction represents a premium of 31% to Diamond's closing stock price of $9.54 on August 23, 2010, and values Diamond at $378 million. Diamond will join the PwC Advisory practice, which ranks among the largest providers of consulting services globally. Shares of Diamond Management & Technology Consultants soared more than 30% in pre-market trading.

AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII) on Tuesday announced positive results from two preclinical studies evaluating the therapeutic potential of AVI-7100 against a fully virulent pandemic H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu or swine origin influenza virus. An analysis of the data from the studies demonstrated statistically significant reductions in average viral titer versus a saline control and a control with Tamiflu(R), a standard of care drug. The studies of AVI-7100, which used AVI's proprietary PMOplus(TM) chemistry, were supported by the Transformational Medical Technologies program (TMT) of the U.S. Department of Defense to identify RNA-based drug candidates against pandemic H1N1 virus. The studies were undertaken as part of a rapid response exercise demonstrating TMT's ability, in partnership with AVI, to rapidly respond to a real-world emerging viral threat. Shares of the company surged as much as 4% in pre-market trading.

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