Amarin Continues to Soar on Heavy Volume

Shares of Amarin Corp. AMRN spiked earlier in Tuesday's trading session after the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published notification of a Notice of Allowance for U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 12/052,598 titled "Highly Purified Ethyl EPA and Other EPA Derivatives." The Notice relates to Amarin's efforts to secure a U.S. patent for its leading drug candidate AMR101. A Notice of Allowance is issued after the USPTO makes a determination that a patent can be granted from an application. Amarin shares have risen 62% over the last 5 trading sessions as the Street prices in a potential patent for AMR101 which would make the company an even more attractive takeover play. "The issuance of a notice of allowance is a significant additional step forward in the execution of our plan to protect the commercial potential of AMR101," stated Joseph Zakrzewski, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Amarin. "Amarin's plan consists of continuing to pursue additional patent protection, seeking regulatory exclusivity, maintaining trade secrets and taking advantage of manufacturing barriers to entry, with the goal of protecting the commercial potential of AMR101 to 2030 and beyond. This patent application is one of Amarin's over 16 pending U.S. patent applications across over 11 patent families." On Tuesday, AMRN shares have risen nearly 10% on very heavy volume. The stock was last trading at $11.69. Around 32 million AMRN shares have already traded hands compared to a 3-month daily average of 14.4 million.