This morning, Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) acccepted for review the company's Marketing Authorisation Application for asenapine. If approved, it will be sold as Sycrest in the form of a tablet for the treatment of schizophrenia and manic episodes associated with bipolar I disorder. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing a new-drug application for asenapine under the brand name Saphris.
SGP noted that it "highlighted asenapine as one of the Five Stars in our late-stage research and development pipeline at our R&D Update meeting in November 2008. At that time, we said that our aspirational filing date for asenapine in Europe was in 2009."
The company's executive vice president and president, Thomas P. Koestler, PhD. stated, "I am pleased that we met this important milestone for asenapine within the first half or 2009."
Technically, shares of SGP are staging a bit of a rally, as they have marched steadily higher on a weekly basis since the end of 2008. This uptrend has served to pull SGP's 10-month moving average into a bullish cross of its 20-month counterpart. Such a move is often considered a bullish technical indicator, suggesting that SGP may be able to continue its rally. With the stock putting the $24 level in its rear-view mirror, watch for the stock to rely on the level as support -- as it has in the past.
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