UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Color On SLXP Target Increase

Piper Jaffray, which raised its PT on shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. SLXP, is providing some color on the stock. “Yesterday, Salix announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued three additional patents for Xifaxan (rifaximin),” Piper Jaffray writes. “We believe the most important of these is a patent that covers the use of the 200 mg dose for travelers' diarrhea. We believe this patent makes it much more difficult for generic filers to pursue a path to market for the 200 mg dose in TD, giving them a backdoor way of effectuating switching from the far larger Xifaxan550 piece of the market to the generic (i.e., mainly hepatic encephalopathy and non-constipation irritable bowel syndrome patients).” Salix Pharmaceuticals closed Wednesday at $38.16.