Stock Market Chumps..........10-30-06

Emisphere Technologies Inc. (EMIS)

Last Trade:	6.82
Trade Time:	3:55PM ET
Change:	2.06 (23.20%)

Emisphere Technologies Inc. on Monday reported mixed results for a mid-stage type-two diabetes study of its key oral insulin product, taking away about a fourth of the stock's value.

The company said patients who had blood sugar levels equivalent to Hemoglobin A1c values above 7.5 percent and were being treated with 1,500 mg per day or more of metformin, did not show statistically significant difference between the 5 mg or 10 mg doses taken four times a day.

Hemoglobin A1c is the standard for evaluating glucose control in type-two diabetics, and metformin is a drug used alone or with other medications, including insulin, to treat type-two diabetes.

The company said it is looking for collaborations to take the drug, utilizing its Eligen oral delivery technology, further.

"We will not do the phase III trial on our own, we'll only do it with a partner," Chief Executive Michael Goldberg said over the telephone.

Goldberg said Emisphere has a likely list of pharmaceutical companies to partner with.

"Wall Street tends to focus on statistical significance, but that is not realistic in a phase II study. What management believes is that they have the safety and effectiveness to get a pharmaceutical partner, which is really what needs to happen," W.R. Hambrecht & Co. analyst Andrew Forman told Reuters.

He added, "This was a pivotal study to show that it was safe and effective and it did that, but Wall Street tends to look for a 'gotcha' in the data. I didn't find any."

HIGHER DOSES

Emisphere also tested different dosages of the product in the study, wherein each of the three dosages -- 10 mg taken twice or four times a day, and 5 mg taken four times a day -- were compared with the placebo, or dummy drug.

The company said among these three comparisons, only the 10 mg dose taken four times a day showed a statistically significant decrease in blood sugar levels. The safety profile of the drug was statistically similar to placebo.

Goldberg said there seemed to be a trend to a superiority of the high dose to the lower doses.

Emisphere said the study met its safety and efficacy objectives. "We believe that we have unequivocally demonstrated that the drug is effective," Goldberg said.

Shares of the company fell $2.07 to $6.82 in late afternoon trade on the Nasdaq.

WR Hambrecht has done banking for this company and others. The analyst does not own stock in this company.

Biosante Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BPA)

Last Trade:	1.7000
Trade Time:	3:53PM ET
Change:	0.4500 (20.93%)

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc.

Last Trade:	1.72
Trade Time:	3:58PM ET
Change:	0.33 (16.10%)

Alternative fuel systems maker Quantum Technologies Inc. on Monday said it plans sell 6.1 million shares of company stock and warrants in a private placement for $10 million.

Quantum Technologies said it would sell the shares to institutional investors at $1.64 each, which represents a 20 percent discount to the stock's closing price of $2.05 on Friday.

Shares of the company lost 30 cents, or 14.6 percent on the news, to $1.75, approaching their 52-week low of $1.73. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $1.73 and $5.22, and is off nearly 24 percent year-to-date.

The sale includes 2.1 million in warrants for company stock. The warrants are exercisable six months from closing for a period of seven years at $2.36 per share.

Additionally, for a period that extends until 45 trading days after the shares become registered, investors can buy another 1.8 million shares at $1.64 per share. Those shares would include an additional 600,000 warrants.

Quantum Technologies said it expects to close the transaction by Wednesday.

The company presently has about 58.2 million shares outstanding.