Cold and flu medicine maker Afexa Life Sciences lost a small early gain but still remains near a year high 73 cents on the possibility that Paladin Labs Inc. , a leading Canadian diversified specialty pharmaceutical company, might launch a counter attack against rival suitor Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. .
Valeant yesterday landed a friendly $76-million or 71 cents a share takeover offer for Afexa topping that of Paladin by 34 per cent. Paladin holds approximately 14.95 per cent of Afexa's shares and its own offer to acquire any and all shares of Afexa at $0.55 per share was announced on Aug. 10, 2011. Paladin said it is reviewing the terms of the Valeant bid and considering the company's options. Paladin added it will make a further announcement upon completion of the review.
Greenscape Capital Group Inc. edged up and was the most actively traded on the TSXV early Wednesday. On Aug. 23, the company announced that, as part of its mandate to invest in companies that operate in the environmental space, it had entered into a letter of intent to acquire a 40 per cent interest in the issued and outstanding shares of CapTherm Systems Inc. for the sum of $1.9-million at a pre-money valuation of $2.85-million. Greenscape will also have the option to increase its shareholding to a maximum of 46 per cent pursuant to the next scheduled CapTherm financing, expected to take place approximately 24 months after Greenscape's initial acquisition of stock.
Belvedere Resources Limited , a Canadian incorporated mining company with a primary focus on gold, cobalt, copper and nickel in Finland, edged higher on busy trade on the TSXV early Wednesday. The stock was trading at 18 cents before it released its second quarter results on Aug. 24, but had been at year highs at the turn of the year before it came under fairly steady selling pressure.
SelectCore Ltd. , a provider of prepaid telecom and financial solutions for the credit challenged and under-banked consumer market, fell more than 10 per cent early Wednesday after reporting its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011. Highlights included: revenues for the period were over $22-million; gross profit for the period was over $1.4-million; gross margin for the period was 6.71 per cent; net loss for the period was $0.005 per share; adjusted EBITDA for the period was $408,996.
Fleet monitoring systems provider BSM Technologies Inc. edged higher early Wednesday after reporting net profit in the three months ended June 30 was $239,000 compared with $22,000 in the year earlier period. The company did not provide earnings per share information. Revenue was $2.4-million, up from $2-million.
Aeterna Zentaris jumped above the $2 mark early Wednesday after saying the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for the pivotal Phase 3 X-PECT study of perifosine in patients with refractory advanced colorectal cancer has completed a pre-specified interim analysis for safety and futility. The DSMB has recommended that the Phase 3 study continue to completion, as planned.
Minera Andes Inc. announced the results of exploration drilling at its 49 per cent owned San Jose mine in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Drilling during the first half of the year was mainly dedicated to infill drilling, whereas drilling during the second half will focus on exploration for new resources. A total drilling program of 50,600 meters is planned for 2011. During the second quarter a total of 58 diamond core holes totalling 14,300 meters were drilled compared to 24 core holes totalling 5,411 meters during the first quarter. The drilling successfully extended the Dos Lauras vein several hundred meters to the northwest and the known vein strike length is now just over 1,000 meters. In addition, infill drilling was completed with good results on the Micaela, Luli, Susana and Marta veins. Resources defined by the drilling will be reported as part of the year end resource update that will be released near the end of the first quarter of 2012.
Tarsis Resources Ltd. fell more than 5 per cent early Wednesday after announcing final diamond drill results from its recently completed program at its Erika property, Mexico. Results include 2.25 g/t gold over 3.60 meters from within a broader interval of 10.28 meters grading 1.14 g/t gold from drill hole ER-11-14. Final assay results have been received for all holes completed during the 2010-11 diamond drill program. In total, 4,020.8 meters were drilled.