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Monday, May 23, 2011

Parkinson's Disease Bacteria Link Discovered: Companies Looking for a Cure

Researchers at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center have discovered a link between Parkinson's disease and the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, more commonly known as H. pylori. This is the same bacteria that can cause stomach ulcers. The study showed that middle aged mice infected with the virus showed symptoms similar to Parkinson's.

Parkinson's is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system and is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. Fortunately, there are many companies that produce treatment for Parkinson's and are researching cures. Many companies are looking at stem cells as a possible treatment.

One company involved in treatment of Parkinson's is Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), an Israeli based company which was founded in 1901, that develops and manufactures a variety of pharmaceuticals. The company developed and markets AZILECT® [rasagiline tablets] as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. The stock trades at 13 time current earnings and 9 times forward earnings. The stock has been paying dividends quarterly and yields 1.6%.

Novartis AG (NVS), a very large Swiss pharmaceutical company, has developed Comtan® [entacapone], a medication for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. The P/E is 14 and the forward P/E is 11. The yield is 3.3%.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) markets Zelapar® [selegiline HCl] Orally Disintegrating Tablets, a once-a-day adjunct therapy for Parkinson’s disease patients being treated with levodopa/carbidopa. The stock recently generated negativ earnings but yields 0.8%.

For companies involved in the stem cell aspect of treatments, check out the free list of stem cell stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. The list can be sorted and updated.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.


By Stockerblog.com

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