Orexigen Stock Gains More Than 50% On Markman Hearing

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:OREX) shares shot up 51.6% on a favorable Markman hearing in the company’s patent infringement lawsuit against Actavis (NYSE:AGN). In the Markman ruling, Judge Richard G. Andrews adopted Orexigen's proposed constructions for most of the disputed claim terms.

Actavis is looking to market a generic version of Orexigen’s obesity treatment, Contrave. Orexigen had received a Paragraph IV notice in Apr 2015 in which certain Orange Book listed patents protecting Contrave were challenged.

A patent infringement lawsuit was filed within the stipulated time period to ensure that Actavis’ regulatory application for its generic Contrave cannot be granted final FDA approval until 30 months from the date of receipt of the notice letter or a favorable District Court ruling, whichever occurs first.

With Contrave being the only marketed product in Orexigen’s portfolio, the earlier-than-expected entry of generics would be a major setback for the company.

Orexigen is currently working on growing sales of the product. Following the acquisition of U.S. rights, the company is looking to adopt a targeted approach in growing Contrave sales. Orexigen will focus on differentiating Contrave from generic amphetamines and will work on improving the gross to net ratio through managed care and pharmacy discount strategies. Contrave should benefit from a more targeted sales effort. The company is planning a third quarter relaunch and expects Contrave to achieve market share of 10% - 11% by 2018. Orexigen is hiring 160 sales reps to promote the product.

The obesity market has quite a few other branded treatments including VIVUS Inc.’s (NASDAQ:VVUS) Qsymia and Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ARNA) Belviq.

Orexigen is a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) stock. Some better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include Retrophin, Inc. (NASDAQ:RTRX) and Arena. While Retrophin is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock, Arena is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock.

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