From YAHOO Individual Investor:
Shares of BioChem Pharma (NASDAQ:BCHE - news) , Canada's largest biotech company, dropped $1.63, or 7.4%, to $20.38 after reporting that first-quarter sales of its new hepatitis B treatment fell short of forecasts, raising doubts that the drug will meet full-year sales projections. BioChem Pharma reported first-quarter sales of its Zeffix/Epivir-HBV treatment of $800,000, far below analysts' projection of $11 million. BioChem executives reiterated yesterday that they expect the drug's 1999 sales to be between $100 million and $150 million. The company reported first quarter earnings of $0.18 per share, in line with analysts' expectations. The company was downgraded to 'neutral' from 'buy' by analyst John Sonnier at Vector Securities. BioChem was also downgraded by analyst Eric Hecht at Merrill Lynch, who adjusted his rating from 'near-term accumulate' to 'neutral.' However, several analysts were confident in BioChem's outlook. 'While we were far off on most of the line items …the company just beat our bottom-line forecast with higher-than-expected R&D contract revenue and lower-than-expected operating costs,' notes analyst Michael King at BancBoston Robertson Stephens, who reiterated his 'buy' rating. 'Disappointing Zeffix sales were well below our forecast, demonstrating the difficulty partner Glaxo Wellcome is facing in developing the HBV market. On a positive note, 3TC sales continue to pace well in the quarter.
....Looks like most of the problem is due to Glaxo's difficulties in HBV.
Good Luck to All,
Aggie |
