Hemispherx CEO Spills Ampligen Beans to Stock Cheerleader: BioBuzz

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (TheStreet) -- Hemispherx Biopharma(HEB Quote) CEO William Carter has reportedly given some "important news" about the regulatory status of its long-delayed chronic fatigue syndrome drug Ampligen to a penny stock-pumping web site, which has promised to unveil the news to its subscribers tomorrow.

BioMedReports said it would release a special report on Hemispherx "during market hours" Friday, according to an alert posted to the web site's subscription side Thursday. I obtained a copy of the alert from a subscriber.

"Dr. William A. Carter, CEO of Hemispherx BioPharma, Inc. (AMEX:HEB) is expected to share some important news about the company's pending FDA decision and some new information about the company's Alferon LDO (Low Dose Oral) application," said BioMedReports.

BioMedReports is a web site that serves as a transcription service and cheerleader for small-cap biotech stocks. The site has long championed Hemispherx and has served as the chief mouthpiece for the company's CEO Carter.

Hemispherx has yet to explain why the FDA has not approved Ampligen for chronic fatigue syndrome, despite a May 25 approval decision date.

The biggest question I have is this: If Carter has important, material news on the regulatory status of Ampligen, why is he allegedly front-running the announcement to a stock promoter? Hello, Securities and Exchange Commission? Are you there?

Targacept Unveils Depression Drug Data Next Week

(At 8:46 AM EDT)

Updated with Targacept stock offering

Investor expectations for Targacept's(TRGT Quote) experimental depression drug are moving higher in lockstep with the company's stock price as a key data presentation nears.

On Oct. 15, researchers will be releasing detailed findings from a phase II study of Targacept's depression drug TC-5214 at a neuroscience conference in Chicago.

Targacept announced July 15 that TC-5214 was able to improve the symptoms of depression in patients who don't respond well to Celexa, a currently prescribed antidepressant marketed by Forest Labs(FRX Quote). Since that announcement, Targacept shares have soared 633%, closing Wednesday at $22.50.

The details of the TC-5214 depression augmentation study were left undisclosed for the Oct. 15 presentation. The key data to watch for is the difference in effect size for patients treated with TC-5214 plus Celexa compared to patients treated with a placebo plus Celexa.

The magic number here is at least a two-point improvement in the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, or HAM-D, in favor of the TC-5214 arm of the study, according to a biotech hedge fund analyst whose been doing a lot of work on TC-5214. His firm owns Targacept shares.

A two-point improvement for TC-5214 on this widely recognized depression scale is important because that's the same effect size seen with Bristol-Myers Squibb's(BMY Quote) Abilify, which received an expanded FDA approval as an add-on treatment to antidepressant therapy in late 2007.

The bulk of Abilify's $2 billion-plus in sales in 2008 were for schizophrenia, but a Needham analyst estimates that $500 million in Abilify sales this year will come from the add-on antidepressant market.