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CMS' J code & Q codeDendreon Retains Buy Rating at DB
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 Dendreon Retains Buy Rating at DBAnalysts at Deutsche Bank retained Buy rating on the shares of Dendreon Corp. (Nasdaq: DNDN) amidst rising concerns that the latter’s Provenge drug for treatment of cancer could be classified as a procedure instead of a drug in the final national coverage determination on June 30, 2011. They set a price target of $54 for the stock. DB analysts state that Provenge has received a product specific temporary Q code replacing all other codes at CMS. It was classified as a drug by CMS in the July 2010 HOPPS rule. They believe that NCD overhang should be removed at latest by July 2011. They state that previously, several other cancer drugs have taken time to get a permanent J code. They add that receiving a product specific code is a step in the right direction toward a permanent J code. On a year-to-date basis, Dendreon’s share performance is 11.83 percent. As compared to Standard & Poor’s 500, the company’s YTD share performance is 10.65 percent. Dendreon is a biotechnology company focused on targeting cancer and transforming lives through the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics. It has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, and P/E ratio of -0.010. It has 145 million outstanding shares. Shares of Dendreon gained 0.94 percent or 37 cents to trade at $39.72 in the closing session.
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Q-Codes: Temporary codes Q-Codes are used for casting procedures, services and supplies. If a permanent code is subsequently assigned (J-Code), the Q-Code is deleted and cross-referenced. J-Codes: relate to Permanent codes used to report injectable drugs that ordinarily cannot be self-administered; chemotherapy, immunosuppressive drugs and inhalation solutions as well as some orally administered drugs Drugs and biologicals are usually covered by Medicare if;
In addition they must meet all the general requirements for coverage of items as incident to a physician's services. Generally, prescription and non-prescription drugs and biologicals purchased by or dispensed to a patient are not covered. |
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