Day: December 16, 2019

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Axsome shares soar on its depression drug

Axsome Therapeutics: AXS-05 achieves primary endpoint in Phase 3 trial, Shares jump 77%

Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM) announced that AXS-05, a novel, oral, investigational NMDA receptor antagonist with multimodal activity, met the primary endpoint and rapidly and significantly improved symptoms of depression in the GEMINI Phase 3 trial in major depressive disorder.

Axsome Therapeutics shares soar on its Gemini depression drug study, Stockwinners

The GEMINI study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center, U.S. trial, in which 327 adult patients with confirmed moderate to severe MDD were randomized to treatment with either AXS-05 or placebo once daily for the first 3 days and twice daily thereafter for a total of 6 weeks.

AXS-05 met the primary endpoint by demonstrating a highly statistically significant reduction in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale total score compared to placebo at Week 6, with mean reductions from baseline of 16.6 points for AXS-05 and 11.9 points for placebo.

AXS-05 rapidly and durably improved depressive symptoms as compared to placebo with statistical significance on the MADRS total score demonstrated at Week 1, the earliest time point assessed, and at all time points thereafter.

Rates of remission from depression were statistically significantly greater for AXS-05 compared to placebo at Week 2 and at every time point thereafter, being achieved by 39.5% of AXS-05 patients compared to 17.3% of placebo patients at Week 6.

AXS-05 demonstrated rapid onset of action with statistically significant improvement as compared to placebo on numerous endpoints at Week 1, or only 4 days after the start of twice daily dosing.

Statistically significant improvements at Week 1 were observed for MADRS total score; Patient Global Impression-Improvement; Clinical Global Impression-Severity; Clinical Global Impression-Improvement; Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Rated; Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire-Short Form; and other endpoints.

On all secondary endpoints including the following, AXS-05 demonstrated statistically significant improvement at Week 6 compared to placebo, reflecting increasing treatment effects over time: clinical response on the MADRS total score; PGI-I; CGI-S; CGI-I; QIDS-SR-16; Sheehan Disability Scale; and Q-LES-Q-SF.

AXSM is up 77% to $82.66.

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Felix Energy sold for $2.5 billion

WPX Energy acquires Felix Energy for $2.5B

WPX Energy (WPX) “is taking another significant step in its commitment to delivering shareholder value” with the $2.5B purchase of Felix Energy, “one of the highest quality Delaware Basin operators.”

Felix has approximately 1,500 gross undeveloped locations in the eastern portion of the basin, with expected production of approximately 60 MBoe/d (70% oil) at the time of anticipated closing. WPX plans to implement a dividend post-closing, targeting approximately $0.10 per share on an annualized basis at initiation.

WPX buys Felix Energy for $2.5B, Stockwinners

WPX Energy, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company, engages in the exploitation and development of unconventional properties in the United States. The company operates 657 wells and owns interests in 808 wells covering an area of approximately 130,000 net acres located in Delaware Basin, Texas and New Mexico; and operates 323 wells and owns interests in 87 wells that covers an area of approximately 85,087 net acres situated in the Williston Basin, North Dakota.ย 

Felix Energy sold for $2.5B, Stockwinners

The acquisition and dividend program follow other steps WPX took in 2019 to enhance its value proposition, including reducing net debt, executing attractive midstream monetizations, launching a share buyback program and generating free cash flow.

The purchase price consists of $900M cash, subject to closing adjustments, and $1.6B in WPX stock issued to the seller.

WPX plans to fund the cash portion through issuance of $900M of senior notes on an opportunistic basis.

WPX also has obtained committed financing from Barclays in connection with the transaction and has full access to a $1.5B revolving credit facility.

The stock consideration comprises approximately 153M WPX shares, which is based on the 10-day volume-weighted average price as of Dec. 13.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and approval by WPX shareholders. The parties anticipate closing the transaction early in the second quarter of 2020.

WPX’s board unanimously approved the transaction.

The acquisition is consistent with all of the tenets in WPX’s five-year vision for shareholders that the company introduced in November during its third-quarter report.

On a pro forma basis, WPX expects to generate significant free cash flow in 2020 at $50 oil.

Following the acquisition, cash flow per share, EPS, free cash flow per share, return on capital employed, and cash margins are all expected to increase.

WPX also expects to continue its opportunistic share buybacks, to implement the previously mentioned dividend program, and to reduce its leverage to 1.0x by year-end 2021.

WPX based all of its transaction economics on $50 oil, with no assumptions for improvements in development costs or operating efficiencies. However, WPX believes significant upside exists by capturing synergies associated with scale.

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