Thanks SS!! I'm posting the article here...we'll see what time brings us.....It is interesting to know their comment near the end....
Says CTCH still has 'cash in it's coffers..." AND
Incidentally, CommTouch's share is still one of the best recommended in the Internet sector, and we haven't come across a single analyst who changed his recommendation.
Thursday , Apr 27, 2000 Sun-Thu at 18:00 (GMT+2)
Stock Market
But Who'll Swallow Teva?
By Shlomo Greenberg
Teva (TEVIY), which appears to be striving to revert to its record high prices, has posted large turnovers, reflecting the growing interest of large investors around the world. The company has published a very significant announcement concerning its Copaxone drug. Together with prestigious drug distributor Marion Merrill Dow, with which Teva owns a joint marketing company, Teva announced it was financing a worldwide clinical trial for examining the possibility of administering the anti-sclerosis drug orally. At present there are three anti-sclerosis drugs on the market: Biogen's, Schering-Plough's and Teva's. All are administered through an injection, usually by the patient himself.
The problem is that, of the 350,000 patients around the world, only 75,000 are undergoing treatment with one of the drugs. Experts maintain that one of the reasons for this situation is that the injection is not comfortable, and is also accompanied by side effects, such as swelling around the injection, pains, etc. It appears that in the case of Copaxone, the need to inject the medicine is the biggest problem, and there are no side effects involved. The Coral Study, the clinical trial into oral administration of the drug, will span 18 countries, involving 1,300 patients, half of whom will be Americans. The trial will take a year, and will be considered the third (and last) stage towards approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
If Teva becomes the first company to produce an orally administered anti-sclerosis drug, there is no doubt about the impact of such a development on its sales. The announcement is yet another boost for Teva. As we have repeatedly said, every time Teva's share falls, another opportunity to buy is created. Pharmaceutical and drug giants are eyeing Teva with increasing hunger with every day that goes by. Many of our acquaintances still maintain that a big offer to buy will eventually be made. Needless to say, it's all gossip.
Two shares posted strong movements yesterday. Silicom (SILC) rose by about 12% and CommTouch (CTCH) fell 13.1%. There's no connection between the two developments. Why did Silicom surge (on a small turnover, but that's always the case with this company)? We have no independently confirmed explanation except one: Silicom made a great agreement with British Psion.
Under the agreement, Silicom will provide Psion with the suitable "connectors" for splitting up information channels, especially for the portable computers the British company is producing with great success. Psion signed an agreement with Dell Computers, and two days ago, Japanese giant Sony announced it was "adjusting" Psion's software to Sony's various portable computers. . This is a tremendous achievement for the British company in its battle for control of the portable computer market. It is a great success, because Psion beat not only Microsoft, but also Palm Ink, 3Com's subsidiary, which held a hugely successful IPO recently.
We're no big experts in all the technological nuances set out in Sony's report, but we have no doubt that Silicom's products are in the picture, and that someone has apparently decided that the share was worth buying. Again, please check with the numerous technology experts in our tiny country. They must know the level of involvement. If we've made a mistake, please let us know, so that we can publish a retraction.
CommTouch has been in free fall for a while, and we can find no justification for it except for the general trend of Internet shares. However, in the last week or so the Internet sector proved it is still alive and kicking, with the occasional big comeback. CommTouch, however, didn't recover even on the occasions on which Internet shares surged. We're feverishly looking for a reason, but we haven't yet found any (apart from the share price, but then it's no different than that of other shares, which do go up sometimes). Since CommTouch's share reached $68.5 on March 14, 2000, it has been on a downward course, closing at $17.75 yesterday. It may well be that the company's decision to call off the issue, which was due to be held two weeks ago, is the reason.
Investors are meticulously examining the balance sheets of Internet and biotech companies. Companies whose coffers are empty or on their way to depletion, get chucked out. But to go by its latest balance sheet, CommTouch still has enough cash in its coffers - more than some other companies whose shares posted a handsome rise, even as CommTouch's share kept falling.
Incidentally, CommTouch's share is still one of the best recommended in the Internet sector, and we haven't come across a single analyst who changed his recommendation. (Does anyone know of any such change about to be published?) And since we're on the subject of the Internet, we might as well mention Delta3 (DDDC), which signed a contract with China's communications leader, Telecommunication China United (TCU). Under the contract, Delta will provide Internet telephony to TCU subscribers, including cellular subscribers.
If that's not a big deal, please show us a bigger deal and we'll pipe down.
BreezeCOM (BRZK) rose 25% on Tuesday, declining slightly on Wednesday, following a highly significant announcement of an agreement with Canadian company WIBAND, Canada's leading Internet provider. Under the $6.5 million agreement, BreezeCOM will supply equipment for 10 exchange in Canada, and this is a big promise for the company's future.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 27 April, 2000 |
