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Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Thursday’s session are AMD, Baxter, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Google, IBM, Lazard, New York Times, Nokia, Polaris, and Xilinx.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ: LJPC) announced that it has called a special meeting of stockholders for October 30, 2009 for the purpose of voting on a Plan of Complete Liquidation and Dissolution.

As of August 31, 2009, the Company had cash, net of liabilities and obligations, of approximately $4.4M. After projected operating and shut down costs, the Company projects that there will be between $0.028 and $0.045 per share available for distribution to holders of the approximately 66M shares of common stock issued and outstanding.

) lupus drug Benlysta faces long-odds to reaching the market, given disappointing early trial results as well as a history of multiple prior drug failures in an indication that does not readily lend itself to treatment.

It has been more than three decades since a new therapy has been approved for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which occurs when the body's immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues.

"We note that historically, drug development in SLE has been extremely difficult... and view the Benlystaprogram similarly; with cautious skepticism, following recent SLE failures," UBS analyst Maged Shenouda said in a note.

It is tough to assess a treatment's effectiveness as SLE tends to flare up and wane.

Analysts also cited disappointing data from the drug's mid-stage trial in 2006 as a cause for concern.

Results from Benlysta's first late-stage study will be released on July 20.

The study, codenamed BLISS-52, was designed to measure patient response rate to the drug at the 52nd week.

"Fundamentally, odds are against a robustdata set," Jason Kolbert at ThinkEquity LLC said in a note.

"We cannot predict with accuracy the outcome of the (late-stage) clinical trial," he wrote.

The graveyard of compounds that failed clinical studies in the SLE indication includes Biogen Idec Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Genentech Inc's Rituxan, and La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co's (NASDAQ:LJPC) Riquent -- both of which failed in late-stage trials.

PROSPECTS BLEAK

Jim Birchenough, an analyst at Barclays Capital, sees an 85 percent chance of Benlysta failing in its late-stage trial. His main concern was the disappointing results from the original mid-stage trial reported in 2006.

He also dismissed the latest set of promising results from another phase II study, saying it was four-year follow-up data for only a subset of patients from the initial mid-stage trial that had failed to meet its main goal.

Last month, Human Genome had said its lupus drug continued to show positive results in a mid-stage trial conducted over four years in patients with serologically active SLE, and that continued treatment with the drug showed sustained improvement or stabilization of SLE and decreased frequency of flares.

"We believe uncertainty remains linking seroactivity to positive clinical results," UBS' Shenouda said.

STILL IN WITH A CHANCE

But Leerink Swann's Joseph Schwartz believes Benlysta may still succeed. "The consensus is that nothing works in lupus, but if something is going to work then Benlysta has the shot."

He gives the trial a 60 percent chance of success.

"The trial has been well designed and (the choice of) patients have been selective... An anecdotal thing that bodes well is that patients have remained on the drug for a long time."

Schwartz believes that a strong unmet medical need combined with compelling safety and efficacy data from the mid-stage trial and one late-stage trial success could be enough to persuade U.S. health regulators to take a chance on the drug.

However, he also warned that while the drug showed a good long-term experience, the main question would be whether it is powerful enough to show efficacy in a 52-week timeline.

About 1.5 million people in the United States and about 5 million worldwide suffer from various forms of lupus, including SLE, according to the Lupus Foundation of America.

ThinkEquity's Kolbert expects that the market potential for Benlysta could reach between $1 billion and $2 billion, split 50 percent with partner GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK).

DEBT CONCERNS LOOM

Analysts say a trial failure would ignite concerns about balance-sheet risks at Human Genome.

"The company has about $397 million in debt due by 2012 that would be at risk following disappointing BLISS-52 data," UBS' Shenouda noted.

The company had cash, cash equivalents and investments of $396.9 million as of March 31.

"If Lymphostat-B (Benlysta) fails to be commercialized, it will place a burden on thecompany to cover its debt obligations with (the chronic hepatitis C drug) Albuferon in the near term," Kolbert said in a note.

However, the company had said in April that its cash position continued to be sufficient to take it "through the availability of Phase 3 data, the filing of marketing applications and the launch of our late-stage products".

Human Genome is developing Albuferon to treat chronic hepatitis C in partnership with Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NYSE:NVS) and expects to file for marketing approvals globally in fall of 2009. (Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)

Monday, November 2, 2009.

Biotech investors interested in seeing more details about these companies and a full list of their related stories can do so by typing the stock ticker symbol into the Stock Quotes box on the right side of the page.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) announced 48-week data from an ongoing study (ETV-048) of chronic hepatitis B patients with decompensated cirrhosis, in which BARACLUDE demonstrated greater viral suppression compared to adefovir.

ICON plc, (NASDAQ:ICLR), a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, announced it has signed an extension to its strategic agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) to manage the company’s clinical data management outside the US.

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUXL) announced executive management will participate in the Oppenheimer Healthcare Conference to be held November 3 - 4, 2009 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Arrayit Corporation (OTC:ARYC) is pleased to join the federal government in their efforts to help control health care costs by leveraging Arrayit's leading edge health care platform.

AEterna Zentaris Inc. (Nasdaq:AEZS), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on endocrine therapy and oncology, announced positive efficacy data from a Phase 2 study with its targeted cytotoxic peptide conjugate, AEZS-108 (formerly AN-152), in patients with platinum-resistant and taxane-pretreated ovarian cancer.

Perrigo Company (Nasdaq:PRGO) announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Israel Consumer Products business along with the related production assets in Israel to Emilia Group, a subsidiary of O. Feller Holdings Ltd., for 205 million New Israeli Shekels (approximately $54 million).

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., (Nasdaq:VNDA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of clinical-stage products for central nervous system disorders, announced financial and operational results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009.

Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:KCI) announced the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) in Japan has granted final regulatory approval for KCI to market and sell its innovative V.A.C.® Therapy System in the country.

Cytori Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTX) will release and host a webcast to discuss its third quarter financial results on Monday, November 9, 2009 at 10:30 AM Eastern time.

GTx, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTXI) announced it has received a Complete Response Letter issued by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its New Drug Application (NDA) for toremifene 80 mg to reduce fractures in men with prostate cancer receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

AMRI (NASDAQ:AMRI) announced a third compound being developed under its license and research agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) will proceed into preclinical development.

GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTCB) announced LFB Biotechnologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of LFB S.A. (Laboratoire françaindu Fractionnement et des Biotechnologies S.A., Les Ulis, France) and a strategic shareholder in GTC, has exercised its option to purchase $12.8 million of additional convertible preferred stock under the terms described in the financing agreements approved by GTC shareholders in July 2009.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) has amended its license agreement with Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) as a result of which Ligand is now entitled to receive royalties on net sales of future products from a mineralocorticoid receptor program and a one-time $75,000 payment for providing access to certain patent rights.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:GILD), in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), announced plans for an international, event-driven (morbidity and mortality) clinical trial to study combination therapy versus monotherapy in a first-line treatment setting for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq:DNDN) announced it has completed the submission of the amended Biologics License Application (BLA) for PROVENGE 4; (sipuleucel-T), the Company's lead investigational product, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Dendreon is seeking licensure for PROVENGE for men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

Phase Forward (NASDAQ:PFWD), a leading provider of data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, announced a contract award to support the FDA’s production rollout of the company’s WebSDM™ Release 3.0 software, including the Empirica™ Study Clinical Trials Signal Detection system.

iMedicor (OTC:VMCI) announced it has received a Scope of Work (SOW) order from its partner, Franklyn Ideas, LLC (Franklyn) on behalf of one of its major pharmaceutical clients.

Walgreens (NYSE:WAG), the nation’s largest drugstore chain with more than 70,000 health service providers, will host its first-ever Diabetes Wellness Events at more than 1,500 stores nationwide in November.

CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS) announced it has extended its contract to provide retail pharmacy benefit services and all clinical services for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Government-wide Service Benefit Plan, also known as the Federal Employee Program (FEP).

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) reported third quarter 2009 net sales of $600.2 million, a decrease of 0.3 percent compared to the same period of 2008, primarily reclecting the 780 basis point unfavorable impact from currency fluctuations.

Antares Pharma, Inc. (Amex:AIS) announced it will release its third quarter 2009 financial results after the market closes on Monday, November 9, 2009, and host a conference call shortly thereafter at 4:30 PM (Eastern Time) to discuss the results.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC) announced its Special Meeting of Stockholders, which was convened on October 30, 2009, was adjourned to November 6, 2009 at 11:00 a.m., local time, at 4225 Executive Square, Suite 495, La Jolla, California.

{loadposition comment2} Developing a drug for lupus continues to be a formidable challenge. However, lupus drug space has attracted the interest of investors after Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGSI) reported positive late-stage trial data for its experimental lupus therapy, Benlysta, last month, defying the skeptics. {loadposition link_newslink1}   {loadposition livevideopromo}       {loadposition homeaccordion2}   {loadposition contentad}       Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune system attacks its own cells and tissues, damaging the organs. The disease affects various body parts, including joints, skin, blood and kidneys. Immunomedics Inc. (IMMU), which is also developing a drug for lupus, has some good news to offer on the lupus front. In a new phase IIb clinical study, the company's experimental drug Epratuzumab demonstrated clinical meaningful treatment effect over placebo in lupus patients. Immunomedics licensed Epratuzumab, to Belgium-based pharmaceutical company, UCB S.A., for the treatment of all autoimmune disease indications worldwide in 2006. Under the agreement inked in May 2006, UCB was obligated to pay Immunomedics initial cash payments totaling $38 million and potential regulatory milestone payments of up to $145 million in cash and $20 million in equity investments, depending on geography approval and approval in different indications over several years. In addition to receiving royalties on sales, Immunomedics could also receive sales bonuses upon reaching certain sales target levels. Epratuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets an antigen, known as CD22, found on the surface of a certain class of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. The FDA has designated Epratuzumab a Fast Track product for the potential treatment of patients with moderate and severe lupus. The new phase IIb study of Epratuzumab for lupus indication was initiated by UCB with the primary objective of assessing the dose response and the dose frequency for Epratuzumab. The 227 patients in the new randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study had moderately (30%) to severely (70%) active disease in multiple organ systems. The primary endpoint of the trial is efficacy as measured by the responder rate according to a combined response index evaluated at week 12 incorporating BILAG assessment, SLEDAI, a physician's global assessment and treatment failure. According to trial results, treatment advantage of Epratuzumab over placebo reached 24.9% at week 12. Immunomedics and UCB said that an in-depth analysis of the data is ongoing in preparation of the phase III program. In addition to lupus, Epratuzumab is also being evaluated as a potential treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or NHL, and in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Immunomedics has a well stoked pipeline -- IMMU-102, a Y-90-labeled epratuzumab, veltuzumab, milatuzumab, humanized PAM4 antibody and 131I-labetuzumab are the other investigational drugs in the company's quiver. Veltuzumab is currently being studied in two phase I/II trials as a potential treatment for immune thrombocytopenic purpura, an autoimmune disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or NHL. The company has also completed a phase II study of Veltuzumab in patients with recurrent NHL. Veltuzumab has been licensed to Nycomed GmbH for all non-cancer indications worldwide. Milatuzumab is under phase I/II trials for multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. IMMU-102 and PAM4 are also under phase I/II trials for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and pancreatic cancer, respectively. Lupus is a tough disease and tougher is the market for lupus drugs. Genelabs Technologies' Prestara, Aspreva's CellCept, La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co's (LJPC) Riquent and Biogen Idec Inc.'s (BIIB) cancer drug Rituxan have all met with disappointment in lupus studies. Human Genome Sciences' Benlysta is the first investigational lupus drug to be successful in a late-stage trial. Atacicept is yet another drug in late-stage testing for lupus. ZymoGenetics, which discovered Atacicept, handed over the drug's rights to Germany-based Merck KGaA last year. IMMU, which has thus far hit a 52-week low of $0.84 and 52-week high of $5.39, closed Wednesday's trading at $4.26. {loadposition link_nowtime} {loadposition followus}

Good morning. Much like we saw both on Monday and Tuesday this week, premarket futures are mixed prior to the opening bell as investors sort through hundreds of earnings reports. [More...]

These are the buys from insiders for the week. As Peter Lynch said, "there are a multitude of reasons insider sell shares, but only one reason they buy, they think the stock is going up. Notice the big buying in the pharma sector.

Brookfield Homes (BHS)= $4,019,000

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND)= $2,748,000

La Jolla Pharmaceuticals (LJPC)= $1,852,000

Mylan Labs (MYL)= $1,094,000

Terremark Worldwide (TMRK)= 720,000