Shares of A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE) surged more than 8% after it announced today the grand opening of the largest lithium ion automotive battery production facility in North America, based on available data. The new plant in Livonia, Mich. is expected to expand A123's manufacturing capabilities by up to 600MW hours per year when fully operational, contributing to the company's plan to expand global final cell assembly capacity to more than 760MW hours annually by the end of 2011. The opening of the Livonia factory comes just over one year after A123 was awarded a $249 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help the company execute its strategy to ramp up U.S. manufacturing capabilities to meet increasing, market-driven demand for its innovative technologies.
Santarus, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNTS) , a specialty biopharmaceutical company, has expanded its development pipeline with the addition of two novel biologic drug candidates focused on specialty markets. Santarus has signed exclusive license and supply agreements with Pharming Group NV (PHARM) granting Santarus the right to commercialize RHUCIN(R) (recombinant human C1 inhibitor) in North America for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) and other future indications. Santarus also has acquired the worldwide rights to a novel biologic drug candidate, an anti-VLA-1 antibody that has shown activity in multiple preclinical models of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, through the acquisition of Covella Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and by amending a related license agreement with Biogen Idec MA Inc. "The addition of these two promising product candidates to our development pipeline reflects an important step toward transforming Santarus into a premier biopharmaceutical company focused on specialty markets," said Gerald T. Proehl, president and chief executive officer of Santarus. "We believe that these biologic products offer significant future revenue potential with attractive proprietary positions, including 12 years of data exclusivity if approved by the FDA, strong intellectual property and significant manufacturing barriers to competition. With successful clinical development and commercialization, these product candidates have the potential to address substantial unmet medical needs and dramatically enhance shareholder value." Shares of Santarus soared as much as 2% in pre market trading.
Shares of Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) slumped as much as 2% after it announced on friday that its 2010 third quarter sales volume is expected to be in the range of 7.5 to 7.7 million tons, down about 10 percent from earlier estimates. The expected shortfall in shipments is similarly split between thermal and metallurgical coal. Lower volume is primarily related to sporadic downtime at the Federal and Panther longwall operations, difficult geological conditions during the quarter at the Wells and Big Mountain complexes and continued heightened regulatory oversight. Based on the largely fixed cost nature of Patriot's mining operations, cost per ton is expected to be higher than anticipated, as costs are allocated to fewer tons. Regarding Federal, on September 8, the mine received an imminent danger order issued by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration relating to a methane level of just over five percent near a gob area of the longwall tailgate entry, causing the longwall to be idled. The Company expects the longwall to return to production early the week of September 13. Continuous miner sections at the Federal mine were not affected by the order and remain in operation.
Full Disclosure: None.
Santarus, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNTS) , a specialty biopharmaceutical company, has expanded its development pipeline with the addition of two novel biologic drug candidates focused on specialty markets. Santarus has signed exclusive license and supply agreements with Pharming Group NV (PHARM) granting Santarus the right to commercialize RHUCIN(R) (recombinant human C1 inhibitor) in North America for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) and other future indications. Santarus also has acquired the worldwide rights to a novel biologic drug candidate, an anti-VLA-1 antibody that has shown activity in multiple preclinical models of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, through the acquisition of Covella Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and by amending a related license agreement with Biogen Idec MA Inc. "The addition of these two promising product candidates to our development pipeline reflects an important step toward transforming Santarus into a premier biopharmaceutical company focused on specialty markets," said Gerald T. Proehl, president and chief executive officer of Santarus. "We believe that these biologic products offer significant future revenue potential with attractive proprietary positions, including 12 years of data exclusivity if approved by the FDA, strong intellectual property and significant manufacturing barriers to competition. With successful clinical development and commercialization, these product candidates have the potential to address substantial unmet medical needs and dramatically enhance shareholder value." Shares of Santarus soared as much as 2% in pre market trading.
Shares of Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) slumped as much as 2% after it announced on friday that its 2010 third quarter sales volume is expected to be in the range of 7.5 to 7.7 million tons, down about 10 percent from earlier estimates. The expected shortfall in shipments is similarly split between thermal and metallurgical coal. Lower volume is primarily related to sporadic downtime at the Federal and Panther longwall operations, difficult geological conditions during the quarter at the Wells and Big Mountain complexes and continued heightened regulatory oversight. Based on the largely fixed cost nature of Patriot's mining operations, cost per ton is expected to be higher than anticipated, as costs are allocated to fewer tons. Regarding Federal, on September 8, the mine received an imminent danger order issued by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration relating to a methane level of just over five percent near a gob area of the longwall tailgate entry, causing the longwall to be idled. The Company expects the longwall to return to production early the week of September 13. Continuous miner sections at the Federal mine were not affected by the order and remain in operation.
Full Disclosure: None.
