Can These 3 Stocks Be Resurrected?: Heckmann Corporation (HEK) and More

Lackluster trading was being blamed for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticking down 21 points yesterday, gripped by ennui over both domestic and international financial woes. Will Europe implode? Will Congress actually perform its duties and come to grips with a budget plan that prevents across-the-board budget cuts?

Weighty questions indeed, but the three companies below had more to worry about than macroeconomic concerns as they confronted defining moments that caused them to lead the way lower. With more than half of all stocks listed on major U.S. exchanges falling yesterday, these three were among the more notable ones leading the charge down.

Now don’t go running over the cliff with them like a bunch of lemmings: It could just be a temporary situation. Let’s first see whether they had good reason to fall as panic-fueled routs can sometimes lead to excellent buying opportunities.

Diabetic shock
That saying “don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched” applied in spades to Danish drug giant Novo Nordisk yesterday, which was smacked down by the Food and Drug Administration rejecting its new diabetes therapy despite it having gained European approval for the drug and the regulatory agency’s own advisory panel recommending it be given the green light.

Particularly since the Fool’s Keith Speights warned last year that just such an outcome was possible, investors should have been aware rejection was a distinct possibility. But considering Wall Street analysts were anticipating Tresiba and its related Ryzodeg would bloom into multibillion blockbusters challenging Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY)‘s Lantus — still the top-selling long-lasting insulin — they could be forgiven for thinking the risk was remote.

Yet the FDA concern regarded potential heart risks associated with taking the drugs as a fatal flaw, though most watchers assumed the agency would approve the treatment but order that concurrent new trials be conducted. The harshness of the FDA’s decision, though, is reflected in its unwillingness to even consider Tresiba or Ryzodeg until the drug maker completes those tests, which Novo Nordisk admits will take several years.

That’s big news for Sanofi since Lantus sales continue to grow, hitting $6.8 billion in sales in 2012 and jumping 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Sanofi sold almost 6.4 million units, and it owns about 80% of the insulin market, so it’s unsurprising that its own shares jumped 3% yesterday. Tresiba was the biggest threat to its dominance because Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY)‘s new long-acting insulin LY2605541 is still years away from market, but with the huge hurdle the FDA just threw in front of its rival, Sanofi will be able to widen the gap further.

What the heck?!
Wastewater management specialist Heckmann tumbled after getting downgraded by an analyst at Wedbush who believes it won’t be able to meet Wall Street’s profit projections. The secular decline in natural gas prices has drillers cutting back production, and since Heckmann provides them with water to conduct hydraulic fracturing (as well as treats the wastewater the process produces), the analyst sees its upcoming performance as weak.