Feuerstein's Biotech-Stock Mailbag

BOSTON -- Welcome back to the Biotech Mailbag. The lazy days of August are upon us, but thankfully, the mail keeps coming. This week's stocks :

• Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA Quote - Cramer on ARNA - Stock Picks)
• Neurocrine BioSciences (NBIX Quote - Cramer on NBIX - Stock Picks)
• GenVec (GNVC Quote - Cramer on GNVC - Stock Picks)
• Cell Genesys (CEGE Quote - Cramer on CEGE - Stock Picks) and
• Dendreon (DNDN Quote - Cramer on DNDN - Stock Picks)

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We'll kick things off with an email from Gene A., who writes, "I've followed your columns for some time and like your perspective. What's your take on Arena Pharmaceuticals?

"By the way, I'm long Dendreon, and I don't hate your guts! In fact, I think you're right on target. The only thing left to move [Dendreon's] price per share is a partnership announcement, but that's been talked about for years."

Gene, be careful. The Dendreonites might vote you off the island if they find out you don't hate me.

To your main question, the Arena Pharma investment story focuses on lorcaserin, the company's experimental obesity drug. Lorcaserin is an agonist of the brain's 5-HT2c receptor, which is known to play an important role in satiety and food intake.

Lorcaserin is designed to be highly selective for the 5-HT2c receptor, which is important because similar drugs that act instead on the 2b receptor cause damage to heart valves. [Fenfluramine, one of two drugs in the now-abandoned Fen-Phen weight-loss treatment, was such a heart-damaging drug.]

While Arena has designed lorcarserin to avoid the toxicities that have shelved other obesity drugs, long-term monitoring will be the only way to ensure its safety profile.

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