Novartis ANNOUNCES Research Collaboration with UPenn and 4 Stocks Reaching 52-Week Highs

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT) is among a group of three consumer products stocks which Warren Buffet cut back, to reduce Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) second quarter position, so as to raise cash. The other two stocks were Johnson & Johnson Co.(NYSE:JNJ) and Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG) according to Bloomberg. Shares closed up 0.22 percent on the day at $40.60, and have traded in a 52-week range of $31.88 to $40.89.

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Nam Tai Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:NTE) expects that the tablet LCM business will run smoothly and the smartphone LCM orders will also start their production in Shenzhen in the second half of this year. These events will bring further rises in sales and the company’s profit might continue to improve as well. Shares closed up 5.29 percent on the day at $6.57, having been traded in a 52-week range of $4.50 to $6.75.

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) and the University of Pennsylvania, or Penn, have formed an exclusive worldwide partnership to research, develop and commercialize targeted chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, immunotherapies for the treatment of cancers. Moreover, the parties will jointly set up a new research and development facility on the University campus, which will be called the Center for Advanced Cellular Therapies,. As part of the arrangement, Novartis purchased exclusive rights from the University to CART-19, which is a novel investigational CAR therapy , currently being evaluated by Penn in a pilot clinical trial. Novartis hopes to start a Phase II clinical trial with CART-19 in collaboration with Penn during the fourth quarter of this year. Shares closed up 0.34 percent on the day at $59.19, and have traded in a 52-week range of $51.20 to $59.43.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) reports that it is enlarging its Gardendale Gathering system and also building a new condensate stabilization facility in the Eagle Ford and constructing a new pipeline along the Gulf Coast. The projects are expected to be finished by the end of next year at a total cost of around $190 million. The Gardendale Gathering system expansion should be in service between the fall of 2012 and second quarter 2013, with Eagle ford condensate stabilization facility to come online near the end of this year. The new Gulf coast pipeline is projected to be in service in the fourth quarter of 2013. Shares closed up 1.35 percent on the day at $87.35, having been traded in a 52-week range of $54.90 to $88.00.

Pluristem Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTI) shares jumped on the news that the Israeli stem cell developer claims that the life of a cancer patient suffering from bone marrow failure was recently saved subsequent to treatment with the firm’s PLX Cells. Subsequent to an injection of the PLX cells intramuscularly a 54 year-old woman’s clinical condition and blood counts improved to the point at which she was able to be released from the isolation unit, and then discharged from the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. Pluristem has applied for orphan drug FDA status for its treatment, which is based on stem cells derived from the placenta. Shares closed up 14.80 percent on the day at $3.80, and have been traded in a 52-week range of $1.98 to $3.85.

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