Is Aspreva Pharmaceutical Corporation's (NASDAQ: ASPV) experimental drug CellCept the Next Big Thing in the medical industry? Not so much, as it turns out.

Less than a month after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted "fast-track" status for the drug in order to speed up the application and review process, the Canadian drug maker said that CellCept, intended to treat a serious and rare form of lupus, failed to meet its primary endpoint in a late-stage trial. The Phase III clinical trial compared CellCept to intravenous cyclophosphamide, which is the current standard of care for lupus nephritis. 185 patients were tested with each, with the study showing that the response rates were similar in both.

Aspreva, which has a collaboration agreement with Roche Holding Ltd (OTC: RHHBY) for the drug, said that CellCept was not superior to the intravenous cyclophosphamide, its primary goal. The two companies announced they are currently in discussions to assess the drug's future potential, which is looking pretty grim right now.

Well, at least the company didn't put all of their drug-eggs in one lupus nephritis basket. Oh wait -- they did. Analysts believed CellCept would provide Aspreva with a steady revenue stream for the next three to four years, but without it, they believe this could create a selling opportunity.

The company, which develops drugs for patients that suffer from rare diseases that lack a multitude of treatments, saw shares drop 8% this morning.

There's a very interesting feature over at The Motley Fool and I find it very useful . The CAPS community stock rating pages give highly understandable insight plus gems of investor feedback which help to bring the knowledge about individual stocks to a layman's level. Investment players like me benefit from this feature.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC) has the CAPS number one spot this weekend based on a 43.1% stock value spike fueled by moderately positive interim results in a phase III study of its number one product Riquent. The drug in question shows promise in the treatment of Lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that can cause organ malfunction. However, analysts are skeptical regarding the value of this phase III test result as a basis for developing a strong position in the company.

Even those investors who express a positive mood, unwittingly show reservations about whether or not the LJPC spike can be supported. Analyst consensus is "hold" on LJPC stock and neutral on the company. It is worthy of note that an Associated Press news release regarding the LJPC test results states: "Several drug makers are in advanced stage trials for lupus drugs. To date, no specific lupus drug has been approved in the United States."(emphasis mine)

I myself expect LJPC share value to recede quickly and I would base my choices on that belief. I see nothing else of interest in the company's fundamentals... at least not to the positive side. If I had shares of JLPC which I purchased at bargain, I'd be tempted to unload half of them immediately to reap some of the current gain. If I had bought those shares for a higher price, I'd be comfortable holding on to them for a while just to see what develops.