After a significant depreciation in the share price of pharmaceutical company Barrier Therapeutics, Inc. (BTRX), Zacks senior healthcare analyst Jason Napodano, CFA reiterates his Hold rating on the shares. The following excerpts explain his position:

'Barrier Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products in the field of dermatology. Although the company launched two new products (Vusion and Xolegel) in 2006, revenue contribution from these products will not be sufficient to drive Barrier to profitability in the near future.

'However, given the current status of the company's development program, in particular the recent failure of Liarozole in the phase II/III trial, we would caution investors about being too optimistic on BTRX. The stock took a major hit in 2005 when the company announced the failure of Hyphanox to reach its primary endpoint in a phase III trial. This was the second setback for the company within a time-period of one month. Earlier, in May 2005, Barrier received a not-approvable letter for Vusion. Following these two setbacks, the share price of BTRX fell significantly.

'It is difficult to value BTRX shares, given its little revenue and negative EPS. Based on our long-term earnings model, BTRX shares do offer opportunity later in the decade, as sales of Xolegel and Vusion begin to ramp. Unfortunately, we see negative EPS through 2010, and believe investors would do better to hold-off until visibility on the company's top-line growth increases. As such, we see continued losses from operations for the next several years. We maintain our Hold rating with a target price of $6.00 and prefer to remain on the sidelines with Barrier Therapeutics.'