Merrill Lynch maintains NPS at buy

NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. was maintained by Merrill Lynch analyst Eric Ende at a buy rating with a $15 price target after third-quarter results showed a loss of $0.95 a share versus Merrill Lynch estimates of $1.15 a share primarily due to higher Sensipar royalty revenues and lower spending. Preos will likely be approved in 2006, and Merrill Lynch said it expects the vertebral fractures drug to capture 25% of the market. A new chief executive officer, Tony Coles, who will replace the exiting Hunter Jackson in the next six months, should renew interest in the stock, Merrill Lynch said. Shares of the Salt Lake City drug discovery company were up $0.40, or 3.98%, at $10.44 on volume of 969,637 shares versus the three-month running average of 530,436 shares.

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