Will Closure Medical be a stitch in time?

• Author: McMillan, Alex Frew
• Position: Increase in stock prices after FDA approval of its liquid surgical glue

Sooner or later every kid takes a tumble, then a trip to the emergency room. So as far as getting stitches goes, "typically it's a matter of time," says Blount Swain, CFO of Raleigh-based Closure Medical Corp. (CLSR-NASDAQ). And for any parent trying to deal with a screaming child, it's got to be easier if the doctor pulls out a tube of glue rather than a suture needle.

That's what Closure is counting on. The Food and Drug Administration approved the company's Dermabond in late August, meaning it can start peddling the liquid surgical glue - the first of its kind in this country. Closure's stock jumped 19% that day, nearly hitting $26.

"For thousands of years they've been sewing the wound shut," Swain says. "It wasn't the perfect way, but it worked." With something that looks so revolutionary, you would think Closure's stock is a sure-fire winner. But some market watchers have started to wonder.

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At $24.95 a tube, good for one wound, Dermabond is more expensive than stitches. But there's no need for an...