On Tuesday, Alkermes Plc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the company's resubmission of its new drug application for its treatment of schizophrenia or bipolar 1 disorder. 

The FDA classified the resubmission as a complete, Class 2 response to the Complete Response Letter (CRL) issued in November 2020.Last month, the FDA had  turned away Alkermes’ ALKS 3831 candidate, since it had concerns  with conditions related to the tablet-coating process.

Alkermes said it will continue to work closely with the FDA as it completes its review of ALKS 3831.

The pharma company said that it wants to make the treatment available to patients as soon as possible. 

Canadian cannabis company Tilray Inc. announced plans to merger  with Aphria Inc. .The deal would create the world's largest cannabis company by revenue.

CNBC’s Sara Eisen tweeted that a deal announcement could come as early as Wednesday, following a Bloomberg Canada report.

 The merged entity would have Tilray as its name, Aphria shareholders would own a larger stake and a majority of the board seats.  The all-stock deal will create a company with an equity value of about C$4.8 billion ($3.8 billion).  The combined companies’ 12-month annual sales of C$874 million is higher than that of industry leaders such as Curaleaf Holdings Inc. and Canopy Growth Corp.

 The merged operation could likely move  its headquarters to the U.S. ,according to the report. 

Aurora Cannabis announced that it was retrenching about 700 employees, and closing five production facilities.It also expects to record a charge of up to $140 million in the carrying value of certain inventory. Tickeron's AI-powered scorecard rates Aurora Cannabis a STRONG SELL. ACB enters a Downtrend because Momentum Indicator dropped below the 0 level on June 05, 2020 This indicator signals that ACB's price has further to drop, since it moved below its price 14 days ago.

Canopy Growth reported a wider-than-anticipated loss for its fiscal fourth quarter. The cannabis company’s  net loss for the quarter came in at - C$3.72 a share, compared to the -44 cents a share loss expected by analysts polled by FactSet.The year-ago quarter’s loss was -C$1.10 a share. However, sales increased to C$115.1 million (from the year-ago quarter’s C$106.5 million). Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Canopy is withdrawing its prior guidance for positive adjusted EBITDA and net income. Tickeron's A.I.-powered scorecard rates Canopy Growth a STRONG BUY. Current price $17.18 crossed the support line at $17.64 and is trading between $17.64 support and $15.10 support lines. Throughout the month of 04/27/20 - 05/28/20, the price experienced a +24% Uptrend.

Carter  cited “Uncertainty surrounding the company’s inability to file its SEC filings and the investigation around its revenue recognition practices,” as a factor behind the downgrade. Last week, Cronos indicated that it would postpone its earnings release scheduled for Feb. 27 to March 17.The company attributed the delay to a  review by the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, with the assistance of outside counsel and forensic accountants, of several bulk resin purchases and sales of products through the wholesale channel and the appropriateness of the recognition of revenue from those transactions. Nevertheless, Carter   believes that Cronos  will eventually demonstrate  a differentiated revenue growth profile by fulfilling the early demands of the Canadian vapor market and making innovation conducive to winning in the global cannabis category.  

A Cowen analyst affirmed an outperform rating on Aurora Cannabis stock. Analyst Vivien Azer based the rating on her expectations  for the cannabis company to more carefully control production costs, selling, general and administrative expenses and capital spending, while restructuring debt covenants.She feels “encouraged” that Aurora’s inventory levels are in focus, and that that should aid better working capital management. According to Azer, Aurora is well-positioned to benefit from the legal recreational cannabis market in Canada and global medical cannabis market. However, Azer also mentioned risks of lower-than-expected revenue and profit - due to stricter regulations on cannabis, and possibilities of consumer demand lagging expectations and supply-chain execution undergoing challenges.

Tilray Inc. shares extended declines in pre-market trading Wednesday, after the company reported a wider-than-expected third quarter loss on sharp decline in Candian pot prices. For the three months ending in September, the cannabis company’s loss came in at -36 cents per share, 7 cents wider than the Street consensus expectation. Revenues  jumped four-fold from the year-ago quarter to $51.1 million. However, the average selling prices halved to $3.25 per gram and spending costs climbed nearly four times higher compared to last year – factors that squeezed Tilray’s bottom line. Looking ahead, Tilray projects inventory levels to begin to decrease in 2020.Inventories  have had been rising following Canada's legalization of recreational marijuana use in October of last year.

Bausch Health posted third-quarter revenue that surpassed analysts’ expectations.The company also boosted its revenue guidance. In the third quarter, the pharmaceutical company’s revenue increased to $2.21 billion ( from $2.14 billion a year earlier), beating analysts’ estimate of $2.16 billion. Bausch reported a loss of -$49 million, or -14 cents a share - compared to a loss of -$350 million, or -$1 a share in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted net income for the quarter came in at $425 million, up from $403 million a year earlier. Looking ahead, Bausch Health now expects a revenue range of $8.475 billion to $8.625 billion for the full-year 2019, up from its previous guidance of $8.4 billion to $8.6 billion. CEO Joseph Papa emphasized on the strength of the company's long-standing brands, Xifaxan, BioTrue Oneday and Bausch + Lomb Ultra, as well as successful performances of newer products, such as Lumify and Thermage.

The bank also slashed its price target to $27 from $46 - the latter being a slight upside from the stock's closing price Thursday of $27.74. Bank of America analyst Christopher Carey is hopeful of Canopy’s long-term potential to be a leader in the burgeoning global cannabis market.Health risks like respiratory problems that are being associated with  vaping is a headwind to cannabis stock sentiment, as hinted by Carey. Meanwhile, consensus analyst expectations are pointing towards double-digit quarter-over-quarter revenue growth from Canopy in the second half of 2019.

The company has performed extremely well in recent years, both fundamentally and in its price performance. Zoetis just saw a bullish signal generated by the Tickeron Trend Prediction Engine on September 15.Past predictions for Zoetis have been successful 76% of the time. Looking at the daily chart for the stock we see that the stock has been trending higher since December and a trend channel has formed to define the various cycles within the overall upward trend.

) Last week, Aurora Cannabis reported quarterly revenue that increased +52% to C$98.9 million ($75 million), but fell short of Wall Street consensus of $78 million.Cannabis sales volumes over the April to June period, nearly doubled from the prior quarter to 17,793 kilograms, but average selling prices dropped -16.8% from the third quarter to C$5.32 per gram on increased supply of lower-yielding recreational marijuana in the domestic market.

Shares of Aurora Cannabis Inc. dropped almost -10% during after-hours trading Wednesday, after the company reported  net revenue that fell short of its previously lowered guidance. The Canadian cannabis company’s fiscal fourth-quarter consolidated net revenue increased +52% from the previous quarter to C$98.9 million – lower than the C$100 million to C$107 million guidance the company had provided offered last month.  Aurora’s adjusted EBITDA loss was -C$11.7 million. In a separate filing, Aurora said that its net loss attributable to common shareholders was less than -C$200,000, and less than a penny a share, with the rest of the losses attributed to two subsidiaries’ non-controlling interests. Aurora mentioned that it is working closely with all regulatory and channel partners to streamline distribution, amidst challenges facing the Canadian consumer channel at the retail level in its key markets.

Tilray  shares climbed on Tuesday, following a re-iteration of a rating from Cowen & Co. Analysts at Cowen & Co. affirmed their outperform rating on the cannabis company.However, they also reduced their price target to $60 a share from $150. Tilray is facing headwinds in the form of weak industry supply, the company being substantially dependent on third parties - as indicated by analyst Vivien Azer. Nevertheless, the company is trying to mitigate the challenges by acquisitions (such as the Natura Naturals purchase) and expansions of its current facilities. Azer suggested that Tilray is well-positioned for multiple entry points into the U.S. , as well as benefit from international markets as it awaits final GMP certifications on its Portuguese license.

However, the adjusted EPS was just under -1% from the year-ago quarter. Total revenues declined -0.8% to $4.09 billion, but beat analysts' estimates of $3.93 billion. CEO Brent Saunders emphasized that Allergan delivered steady growth in key products including Botox, Vraylar and Ozurdex. Looking ahead, Allergan expects its net non-GAAP revenues of $15.4 billion to $15.6 billion for the full-year 2019, up from $15.1 billion to $15.4 billion.It maintained its forecast of non-GAAP earnings of around $16.55 per share.  In late June, AbbVie announced that it will pay $188.24 each in cash and shares for Allergan's outstanding common stock, representing a 45% premium to the group's closing price on June 24.

Cronos Group (Nasdaq: CRON) is a rather unique company.Cannabis investing has been a prominent storyline over the last few years and that has helped the stock move up sharply in the last two years. Despite the rally, the stock has been trending lower in the last four and a half months.

Teva Pharmaceutical has agreed to pay an $85 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma.The announcement comes just before the company was going to face trial over allegations that it and other drugmakers helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic.  Teva, the world’s largest generic drugmaker, said the settlement “does not establish any wrongdoing on the part of the company” and denied contributing to opioid abuse in Oklahoma. Claims against Teva focused on the branded opioid products Actiq and Fentora as well as generic painkillers it produced.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries fell more than 9% Monday morning in reaction to a lawsuit filed by 44 states. Teva, along with other global drug companies, is accused of conspiring to inflate the prices of their generic therapies by as much as 1,000%, according to the lawsuit filed last Friday.The allegations include drug companies and their executives were not only involved in a price-fixing scheme, but were aware their alleged actions were illegal.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited reported first-quarter 2019 earnings of 60 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 58 cents.Earnings per share declined 36% year over year due to lower sales and operating income. Read more...

On Oct. 17, 2018, Canada made history by becoming the first G7 country and the second country overall to legalize adult-use cannabis. Read More...

Cronos Group's stock  traded lower on Tuesday, after the company reported its latest results. The cannabis company reported revenue of C$5.6 million ($4.2 million) for the fourth quarter, up from $1.6 million a year ago. Its gross profit before fair value adjustments came in at C$2.5 million for the quarter. For the full year, Cronos had a loss of -11 cents per share, compared to a profit of 1 cent a year earlier.Its full-year revenue of $15.7 million was higher than the previous year’s $4.1 million. Mike Gorenstein, CEO of Cronos Group highlighted the company’s expanding presence in domestic and international markets, and its launch of iconic brands for the Canadian adult-use market.