Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NDAQ: ISPH) shares jumped more than 50% in early trading after its new drug to treat cystic fibrosis met its primary goal for a Phase III trial. The 352-patient, double-blind, 24-week placebo-controlled study demonstrated statistical significance for its primary efficacy endpoint. Secondary endpoints were also evaluated in the trial, which is great news for the company.

“The data from this Phase 3 trial with denufosol are encouraging for the cystic fibrosis community because it brings us one step closer to a novel treatment that addresses the basic cystic fibrosis defect," said Robert Beall of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. "There remains a high unmet medical need in the area of CF treatments and denufosol could be an important addition to the treatment regimen."

The drug, denufosol, was well-tolerated and had a favorable safety profile in the trial. Patient retention rates were high and similar etween treatments groups with approximately 90% of patients completing the 24-week placebo-controlled portion. The incidence of adverse events in the group was comparable to the placebo. As in previous trials, the problems were minor - coughing.

“The results from this trial are exciting because they demonstrate that denufosol’s novel mechanism of action, activation of an alternative chloride channel that is treating the underlying defect, had a clinically-meaningful impact on lung function that progressively increased over time," said Frank Accurso. "The improvement in FEV1 was achieved on top of aggressive use of multiple concomitant medications."

In the end, this announcement definitely makes Inspire Pharmaceuticals a stock worth watching as successful drug candidates often become takeover targets once all the risk is gone. The completion of this Phase III trial means one giant leap forward in this process.

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The nation's largest cellular telephone provider was born today after Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) agreed to purchase Alltel for approximately $28.1 billion. The deal will help Verizon's wireless business surpass that of AT&T Wireless to take a strong lead.

The deal also represents one of the quickest flips in history as Alltel's private equity owners just completed buying the company last fall for about $27.5 billion. The result was a fast $600 million profit in just about a year. The consortium had reportedly been sitting on huge debt-related losses and were pushing hard to sell.

Under the terms of the deal, Verizon will acquire the equity of Alltel for $5.9 billion and assume $22.2 billion in debt. The transaction is slated to be completed by the end of the year. The move caught investors by surprise given the fact that it was rejected in the past due to Vodafone's resistance - a parter with Verizon Wireless.

The move also positions Verizon increasingly as a wireless business as opposed to a wireline business and is a logical fit. Both companies share the same cellular technology, CDMA, and Alltel services areas that are not serviced by Verizon. This positive spin helped push shares of Verizon up some five percent on the day.

In the end, this move underscores that the wireless industry is no place for independent telecom providers. It is the giants that thrive in this arena and even private equity funds are starting to realize that they cannot compete. It will be interesting to see how this affects others in the sector.

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Yahoo Inc. (NDAQ: YHOO) has suddenly turned into one of the most active dealmakers in its bid to reduce the pressure from shareholders. A whirlwind of new deals were announced today with advertising partners ranging from Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) to CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS). Meanwhile, the company is desperately trying to strike a deal with Microsoft in leiu of an outright acquisition.

Shareholders like Carl Icahn are still not satisfied and are demanding a sale of the company. Many are not impressed that it took Yahoo this long to "rewrite" the company and turn it around. After all, if management was so confident in the company then why has the stock been stagnant for so long? To many investors, it comes down to a vote of confidence. Management still faces a lot of opposition that could prove difficult to qwell without a sale.

According to many shareholders, Yahoo must overcome a large (and growing) gap with Google in the search market in order to win back investors. And that might take a little longer than most shareholders are willing to wait...

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