Wednesday Market Movers

VIVUS Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, announced on Tuesday that the FDA approved its new weight loss drug Qsymia. There is a large market for weight loss drugs because of the pervasiveness of obesity in the United States. In late June, the FDA approved another weight loss drug called Belviq, made by Arena Pharmaceuticals

. Qsymia was created for people who suffer from a combination of obesity and another obesity-related condition such as diabetes or high cholesterol. President of VIVUS Peter Tam stated, "Qsymia is the first FDA-approved once daily combination treatment for patients struggling with obesity. The degree and severity of obesity and the lack of effective pharmacological interventions that we face as a society were two primary reasons for the development of Qsymia. We are pleased with FDA's decision today because patients and physicians now have another treatment option available to them. It is expected that Qsymia will be available in the fourth quarter of 2012." VIVUS traded up about 16.5 percent on Wednesday.

EMC Corporation, a data storage equipment company, reported second quarter earnings of $0.39 per share, below analyst estimates of $0.40 per share. EMC beat analyst estimates on revenues, though. The company also announced that it promoted the Chief Financial Officer, David Goulden, to President and COO. This move suggests that Goulden is likely to replace CEO Joe Tucci, who is expected to retire in the next two years. Goulden commented, “EMC is very well positioned to benefit from almost every major trend in IT – flash storage, converged infrastructure, Big Data and cloud security to name just a few. I look forward to continuing to execute on EMC's strategy and working with such a talented team who embody EMC's high-performance culture. ” EMC Corporation traded up about 9 percent on Wednesday.

Air Methods Corporation provides air medical emergency transport services and systems in the United States. Early on Wednesday, the company reported preliminary second quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations. The company expects earnings per share to be between $2.30 to $2.40, compared to the same period last, which had earnings of $0.77 per share. CEO Aaron Todd stated, "The full benefit of our acquisition of Omniflight is reflected in these preliminary quarterly results. Fewer weather cancellations, continued strength within our net reimbursement per transport, and moderating maintenance expenditures have driven strong organic growth as well.” Air Methods Corporation traded up nearly 8 percent on Wednesday.