Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: FDA Approval Plays

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Viewers may have taken a holiday break, but the Food and Drug Administration didn't, Jim Cramer said on Tuesday's "Mad Money" TV show.

That's why he said it's time to buy Alkermes(ALKS), which was anointed by the FDA with an approvable letter for Vivitrol, its treatment for alcoholism.

"It's as close to having approval without having approval as a drug can be," he said.

While it's not a totally new treatment, it doesn't have a lot of competition. And, said Cramer, because Americans are lazy and don't want to work to treat their bad habits, this drug could explode.

He told a caller that he likes new pharma better than old, also recommending Amgen(AMGN), Gilead Sciences(GILD) and Biogen Idec(BIIB).

In the world of sleep drugs, Cramer said that the game was over for Sepracor(SEPR) and its sleep disorder treatment Lunesta. Instead, said Cramer, Neurocrine Biosciences(NBIX) will be the winner in the sleep drug wars when its sleep drug is approved in 2006.

Cramer said that Neurocrine's treatment has posted top-notch results in clinical trials, and that it has a 200-person sales team behind it. No matter how good a drug is, it will do better when a company throws the necessary resources behind it. He recommended buying the stock before FDA approval was granted.

He told a caller that personalized medicine and genetics wasn't the game to be in, but that history shows FDA approval will boost a stock.