Ahead Of The Bell: Par Pharma Continues To Rise

NEW YORK (AP) — Already trading around annual highs, shares of Par Pharmaceutical Cos. rose Wednesday after the Food and Drug Administration approved the company's generic version of the Catapres TTS high blood pressure patch.

Par reported the approval late Tuesday, marking its second piece of good news in as many days. Early Monday the company said it was successful in challenging the patent on the pain drug Ultram ER, which could allow the company to begin selling a generic version of that product.

Ultram ER, or extended-release tramadol, is sold by Biovail Corp. and Johnson & Johnson. Par said a U.S. District Court ruled in its favor by determining the patent supporting the drug, which belongs to Purdue Pharma, is not valid. The FDA has tentatively approved two versions of the drug made by Par.

The stock is already up 14.5 percent this week, and in premarket trading, shares rose 91 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $20.70. Par shares touched a 12-month high of $20.55 Tuesday before closing at $19.79.

Caris & Co. analyst David Moskowitz upgraded the stock to "Buy" from "Above Average," saying the approval of generic Catapres — also called clonidine — gives Par "an amazingly strong platform of sustainable high-value generics, which will fund the continued ramp of the company's emerging brand business as well as follow-on generic opportunities."