maybe not a smart way to trade but i bought BJCT today at 4 1/4 sometimes these work out, sometimes not, there is some interesting info in this release.
LOS ANGELES, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Shares of Bioject Medical
Technologies Inc. <BJCT.O> lost more than half their value on
Wednesday after the maker of needle-free drug delivery systems
late Tuesday said Amgen Inc. <AMGN.O> would not pursue
development of two Bioject devices.
Shares of Portland, Oregon-based Bioject were down $5.29,
or 56.5 percent, at $4.07 in late trading on Nasdaq after
reaching a session low of $3.91.
For its fiscal fourth quarter ending in March, Bioject said
it will recognize all of a $1 million upfront license fee paid
by Amgen, rather than the $700,000 it had planned on booking.
But for fiscal 2003, Bioject said the loss of the Amgen
deals will reduce its revenue by $3 million, although overall
revenue is still expected to increase.
Bioject said the decision by Amgen, which cited internal
business reasons for the move, came as a complete surprise and
was not related to product performance.
"As recently as last week we had a team meeting with them
and things were fine. ... The product met all performance
criteria," said Jim O'Shea, Bioject chief executive.
Bioject said it will have about $28 million in cash and
cash equivalents on hand at the end of fiscal 2002, or enough
to fund operations for four to four and a half years.
"We have the strongest pipeline ever," O'Shea said, noting
that Bioject expects to conclude one or two more development
deals over the next 12 months.
The company's needle-free injection technology works by
forcing liquid medication at high speed through a hole --
smaller than the diameter of a human hair -- in a syringe that
is held against the skin.
Bioject established in March 2000 a clinical supply and
license agreement with Amgen involving the Iject system, a
small, gas-powered injection system that can be adapted to
deliver a range of injection types and volumes. A second
agreement was signed in December 2001 for use of a modified
version of the B2000 needle-free system.
The Amgen therapies being considered for use in the
injection-free devices were not disclosed. The Thousand, Oaks,
California-based company's main products boost production of
blood cells and are given intravenously.
((--Deena Beasley, Los Angeles bureau + 1 213 380 2014))
REUTERS
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