Barron's talks up Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX)

The Masters haven't mentioned Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ONXX) in a long time, since our 100%+ gain with our Master Picks Newsletter.  Barron's is jumping on the bandwagon now that shares are down to $33.  Can Nexavar, Onyx's cancer drug take the company and stock back into the spotlight?

Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc's (NASDAQ:ONXX) cancer drug has bright potential in treating several forms of the disease and could raise the biotech company's shares, according to a report on Sunday in Barron's (Paid portion only, thus no link provided).

With sales of its drug Nexavar, now approved to treat kidney and liver cancer, expected to hit $1 billion next year, Barron's said one health-care investor is looking for earnings of $1.93 per share, and valuing the stock at $65 to $75 per share.

Nexavar (generic name: sorafenib) was developed in 50-50 partnership with a unit of Bayer AG (BAYRY). It won Food and Drug Administration approval in December 2005 for advanced kidney cancer, the first new drug to be approved for that hard-to-treat disease in more than a decade. Then, late last year, after clinical trials showed a noteworthy increase of 44% in patient survival, Nexavar got the green light for liver cancer, the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, an estimated 600,000 a year, including almost 70,000 in the U.S. and Europe. 

Nexavar's promise in treating kidney cancer became apparent in 2004, the stock, as noted, hit 60. But by late 2006 after Nexavar flopped in a Phase III trial for advanced skin cancer, shares could be had for $10 and change. Eleven months later, success in liver cancer made headlines and the stock shot up to over $60. But early this year, Nexavar failed a Phase III trial for lung cancer, sending shares plunging below $25. They now sell around $33, roughly half the recent high.

Onyx shares closed on Friday at $33.67.  Thanks to Barron's recommendation, you can bet this stock will jump Monday.