Someone on Yahoo noticed that TGEN got a plug late this afternoon on Dow Jones:
messages.yahoo.com
-----------------------------
Genomics Stks Up On Thurs WSJ Report, Analysts Say
Thursday, February 10, 2000 04:17 PM
By Elizabeth Souder
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Investors snapped up genomics and gene therapy stocks after an article
about the commercialization of gene knowledge appeared in The Wall Street Journal Thursday.
The front-page article focuses on Incyte Phamraceuticals Inc.'s (INCY, news, msgs) business of
patenting genes, then selling access to those genes. Incyte shares rose 19.6% Thursday, to close at
190 3/32 on volume of 1.8 million shares. Average volume is 788,017.
Targeted Genetics Corp. (TGEN, news, msgs) shares rose as much as 24.3% Thursday, and Avigen
Inc. (AVGN, news, msgs) rose 12.4%. Both companies are developing gene therapies.
Steven Delco, an analyst with Miller Tabak Hirsch & Co., said people reading between the lines of the
Journal article could see that Targeted Genetics and other companies developing gene therapies are
also bringing gene knowledge to the market.
Share prices of genomics companies that are amassing databases of gene information have left behind
other companies that are creating drugs based on that information, he said: "It's like the tail wagging
the dog."
Delco said genomics companies have been benefiting from the perception that they will "own and
control everything." In realty, he said, those companies may only get small royalties, while the
gene-therapy developers cash in.
Even so, genomics companies followed today's trend. Shares of Genome Therapeutics Corp. (GENE,
news, msgs) jumped 30.6% to close at 37 5/16, and Celera Genomics Group (CRA, news, msgs) rose
13.4% to close at 263 1/8 on volume of 709,700 shares.
The Wall Street Journal is owned by Dow Jones & Co. (DJ, news, msgs), which also publishes this
and other newswires.
-Elizabeth Souder; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5400
Quote for referenced ticker symbols: AVGN, CRA, CRGN, GCLL, GENE, GLGC, GNLB, GNLK, INCY,
TGEN |
