Dutton Associates continues coverage of Neoprobe Corporation (OTCBB:NEOP), maintaining its rating at Strong Speculative Buy with a higher price target of $1.50. The 14-page report by Dutton senior analyst Dennis C. Fisher, CFA is available at www.jmdutton.com as well as from First Call, Bloomberg, Zacks, Reuters, Knobias, and other leading financial portals.
We continue to project that Neoprobe will become profitable in 2009 and report untaxed EPS of $0.07 for the full year. The driver for our expected earnings continues to be commercialization of Lymphoseek®, a proprietary radiopharmaceutical being developed for the identification of sentinel lymph nodes during sentinel lymph node biopsies (SLNBs) to stage several solid tumor types including breast, melanoma, head and neck, prostrate, gastrointestinal and colorectal cancers. The Company reported positive Phase II clinical results for Lymphoseek and the first clinical sites have begun recruiting and screening patients for inclusion in the breast cancer and melanoma trials scheduled to begin this month. A second Phase III trial in head and neck cancers is set to launch at mid-year. These Phase III trials have been designed to procure a first-in-class label from the FDA that supports the use of Lymphoseek in sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) procedures, which would likely facilitate market acceptance and more rapid uptake in sales. The molecule has important clinical advantages over existing radiopharmaceuticals that are currently used off-label for SLNBs, and, as the first radiopharmaceutical that may be specifically labeled for the indication, may also have the additional advantage of securing insurance reimbursement for hospital costs that average roughly $900 per procedure. There are a number of milestones that should help boost the stock price – all of which we anticipate will occur over the course of the next 12 months.
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Dutton Associates is one of the largest independent investment research firms in the U.S. Its 30 senior analysts are primarily CFAs, and have expertise in many industries. Dutton Associates provides continuing analyst coverage of over 140 enrolled companies, and its research, estimates, and ratings are carried in all the major databases serving institutions and online investors.
The cost of enrollment in our one-year continuing research program is US $35,000 prepaid for 4 Research Reports, typically published quarterly, and requisite Research Notes. Dutton Associates received $102,000 from the Company for 14 Research Reports with coverage commencing on 7/26/2004. The Firm does not accept any equity compensation. Our principals and analysts are prohibited from owning or trading in securities of covered companies. The views expressed in this research report accurately reflect the analyst’s personal views about the subject securities or issuer. Neither the analyst’s compensation nor the compensation received by us is in any way related to the specific ratings or views contained in this research report or note. Please read full disclosures and analyst background at www.jmdutton.com before investing.
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John Dutton, President, 916/960-0623