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Shares in Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) plunged 12% in Monday’s extended trading, after the company announced disappointing top-line results from its 298 patient Phase 3 CLARITY study evaluating pimavanserin as an adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD).The study did not achieve statistical significance on the primary endpoint which was the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) total score change from baseline to week 5. Pimavanserin 34 mg, given once-daily as an adjunctive treatment to standard antidepressant therapy was associated with a mean reduction of 9.0 in HAMD-17 total score compared to 8.1 for placebo as an adjunctive treatment (p=0.296).Positive results were observed on the key secondary endpoint, the Clinical Global Impression – Severity (CGI-S) score, a clinician assessment of a patient’s severity of depression (nominal p=0.042) and on the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) score (nominal p=0.005).“We observed a consistent improvement of depressive symptoms over time with pimavanserin but, unfortunately, the robust...
IBM Corp. (IBM) reported better-than-estimated profit in the second quarter driven by sales of its cloud computing business sending shares up almost 5% in extended market trading on Monday.The stock surged to $132.25 in Monday’s after-market trading. IBM’s total revenue in the second quarter dropped 5.4% to $18.12 billion year-on-year, coming in above analysts’ estimates of $17.72 billion. Adjusting for the impact from currency and divested businesses, revenue slipped 1.9%. Meanwhile total cloud revenue surged 30% to $6.3 billion in the reported quarter.Excluding items, the company earned $2.18 per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations for $2.07 per share. IBM’s focus of investment has been its hybrid cloud transition and AI as clients modernize their businesses and need to enhance their work-at-home capabilities in today’s COVID-19 environment.“Our clients see the value of IBM’s hybrid cloud platform, based on open technologies, at a time of unprecedented business disruption," said IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. "We...
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. surged as much as 9.5%, its biggest jump in five years, after billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group announced plans to seek a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, bypassing New York.Ant Group is seeking a valuation of more than $200 billion as it goes public, and could raise more than Saudi Aramco’s record $29 billion if market conditions are favorable, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Hong Kong portion could raise about $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, which would make it the sixth-largest initial public offering in the city.The listing is a boost to exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai, while dealing a blow to U.S. bourses as more Chinese firms look to raise money closer to home amid rising U.S.-China tensions. Hong Kong-listed Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. raised $7.5 billion from a Shanghai share...
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos added $13 billion to his wealth on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.What Happened This is the largest single-day gain in the net worth of an individual recorded by the index since it was created in 2012, Bloomberg noted.Amazon's shares rose nearly 8% on Monday to close at $3,196.84, the highest single-day gain since December 2018.The e-commerce company's shares surged after a Goldman Sachs analyst upgraded the price target at the stock to $3,800 per share. Online shopping is also seeing positive trends, according to Bloomberg.The 56-year old's reported net worth of $189 billion is now more than companies like Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE), and McDonald's Corp (NYSE: MCD).The Amazon founder's former wife Mackenzie Bezos also saw a rise of $4.6 billion in her net worth on the day, making her the 13th richest individual in...
Swiss drugmaker Novartis cut its 2020 sales outlook on Tuesday after second quarter sales and profit fell, as hospitals that stocked up on drugs during the first-quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic slowed purchases. The Basel-based company cut its 2020 sales outlook, saying it now expects sales to grow in the mid-single digit percentage range, down from its previous expectation for a mid- to high-single-digit percentage increase. Novartis was also more specific on its profit expectations, saying it now expected core operating income to increase by a low double-digit percentage, compared with its earlier view for a high-single to low-double-digit percentage increase....
During the second quarter of 2020, US smartphone sell-through fell 25% year-over-year, according to Counterpoint Research’s preliminary US Smartphone Channel Share Tracker. However Apple (AAPL) had reason to rejoice as Apple volumes grew through the quarter and were especially helped by iPhone SE volumes.“The device has been successful and selling above expectations in both postpaid and prepaid channels,” said Jeff Fieldhack, Counterpoint’s North American Research Director.Since the iPhone SE launched at just $399, carrier stores and national retail have been re-opening, with some channels offering large promotions to draw shoppers back to stores. According to Counterpoint, this was especially true with Walmart, Metro by T-Mobile and Boost.Encouragingly, the research showed that the iPhone SE boost should not deter from the upcoming 5G rollout. “Our checks show that iPhone SE sales are unlikely to be cannibalizing fall 5G iPhone sales. iPhone SE buyers are more pragmatic about price, less concerned with 5G,...
Spot gold was up 0.4% at $1,822.11 per ounce by 0730 GMT after hitting its highest since September 2011. U.S. gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,823.80. European Union leaders reached a deal on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus-blighted economies after a fractious summit that went through the night and into its fifth day....
