Investopedia: The Salix Story Keeps Improving

Investors have a solid dozen investment options in Big Pharma and hundreds of biotechs to choose from, but the specialty pharmaceutical space has always been a little thin. That gives Salix Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:SLXP) a little bit of scarcity value - it has excellent growth credentials but also some of the security that comes with patents and the requirement for rivals to go through the FDA approval process.

One Drug to Lead the Way  
One of the problems with specialty pharmaceutical companies like Salix, Forest Labs (NYSE:FRX), and Endo Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ENDP) is that they're often highly dependent on a very small number of drugs. For Salix, it's Xifaxam - a non-systemic antibiotic that works especially well in the GI system. Xifaxam is approved for traveler's diarrhea and hepatic encephalopathy (where it has orphan drug status) and currently contributes about two-thirds of the company's sales.

Please click the link for more:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/The-Salix-Story-Keeps-Improving-SLXP-FRX-ENDP-NKTR0118.aspx