Third Point Grabs CV Stake

Hedge fund investor Third Point appears to be high on biopharmaceutical company CV Therapeutics(CVTX).

Third Point, run by manager Daniel Loeb, piled about $51 million into the Palo Alto, Calif.-based drug company. Over the last two months it bought 5.9 million shares, representing a nearly 10% stake in CV Therapeutics.

An external spokesman for Third Point declined to comment. A CV Therapeutics spokesman declined to comment.

The small drug company, which makes drugs for treating heart disease, said last month that first-quarter sales of heart drug Ranexa rose 33% from fourth-quarter levels to $12 million. The company, which lost $55 million in the quarter ended March 31, received U.S. approval for the drug back in January 2006.

Although Ranexa is the company's only approved drug at this point, CV Therapeutics said this week it has submitted a new drug application to the Food and Drug Administration seeking to use regadenoson in myocardial perfusion imaging studies. The filing triggered a milestone payment by partner Astellas.

"We are very pleased to have submitted an NDA for regadenoson, which, if approved in 2008, would represent the second innovative cardiovascular product CV Therapeutics will have brought to market in a two-year period," said CV Therapeutics CEO Louis G. Lange in statement Monday.

CV Therapeutics, which has a market capitalization of about $670 million, rose more than 6% in regular trading Thursday to $11.28 before giving back some ground in after-hours action.

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