Arena Pharmaceuticals receives $60 million from Deerfield

Shares in ARNA will take a hit temporarily this morning from the dilution. But longer-term, this financing will be beneficial for the following reasons:

1) it reduces the debt load by $30 million
2) it delays one payment for 2 years
3) it adds $30 million of cash to ARNA's coffers
4) it strengthens Deerfield's equity position, which is bullish as Deerfield has insider knowledge into Lorcaserin's New Drug Application (NDA). Deerfield is all in.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arena-pharmaceuticals-to-receive-60-million-from-deerfield-management-100100874.html

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Disclosure: long ARNA shares, short January put options.

Two "misses"

BDSI's cancer pain drug Onsolis did gain FDA approval as expected, but the prices have declined since its approval, which is unexpected. I'm sitting on a slight loss on the shares, so will probably hold until their next pivotal event in September/October--or until the market realizes the commercialization potential of Onsolis, its unique breakthough drug delivery technology, and solid pipeline up for FDA approval.

I also contemplated taking a stab at Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) last week, waiting for today's announcement for its Lupus drug, Benylsta. Results were positive, and shares rocketed overnight over 200%, despite the market's prior skepticism. Even though we missed on it, I don't feel that bad, because I didn't perform enough due diligence to be comfortable enough to pull the trigger. The main beneficiary is the biotech sector, as these big winners will attract more retail and institutional investors. Clinical stage biotech stocks require capital to fund their development work, so the positive news gives them more options for financing.