>Had to get help on the latin...
harold.
yeah, it's the toolie (read: engineer) in me. pocket-protector profs always write it after a proof. "QED": which was to be demonstrated.
i figured it apropos given the 'pre-annoucement.'
btw, is the CC replay still available? if so, would you mind posting the number and registration code? if my not-so-lucid memory remains lucid, i don't recall it cited here.
thanks much,
-chris.
another news item ...
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Research shows brain atrophies early in MS-Biogen
January 14, 1999 10:28 PM
By Leslie Gevirtz
BOSTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The brains of multiple sclerosis patients atrophy "very early" in the course of the disease, research to be published later this year will show, said executives at the company that makes the leading drug to fight the neurological disorder.
Executives of Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen Inc. (BGEN), maker of Avonex, used to treat relapsing forms of MS, made the remarks during a Thursday conference call with analysts after releasing the biotech firm's fourth-quarter and year-end earnings.
Citing research to be published sometime later this year by Dr. Richard Rudick of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Biogen Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Vincent said the neurologist had determined "that actually brain atrophy or brain shrinkage occurs very early in the course of the disease."
He said the research "will be very important. Also to communicate directly to both patients and physicians because everybody I think can appreciate it's better if their brain does not shrink."
Dr. Rudick could not be reached for comment.
Some one million people in the developed world suffer from the neurological illness that strips away the tissue covering the brain's nerve fibers. The disease tends to strike mostly women between the ages of 30 and 50 and is most commonly found in Canada, the United States, South America and Europe.
In 1998, more than 55,000 MS patients were taking Avonex -- an increase of 60 percent over the previous year, Biogen said and Vincent hopes to have 100,000 MS patients on the drug "some time in the next several years."
The company reported record sales and net income for the year just ending. Total Avonex sales in 1998 were $394 million compared to $239.9 million a year earlier.
Biogen reported fourth quarter earning per share diluted of $0.54, which met First Call consensus estimates. The company earned $0.42 per diluted share in the year ago period. Year earnings rose to $1.80 a diluted share from $1.17.
The company credited the rise in earnings to the increase in the number of MS patients in the United States and Europe taking the once a week injectable drug.
Biogen stock closed at $90.25, off $1.75 on volume of more than 2.3 mln shares. Earnings were reported after the close. The stock lost another 25 cents in after-hours trading.
Average trading volume for the company's stock is about 1.2 mln. |
