Reuters story: Eli Lilly bounces back from Evista slump
Wednesday, February 11, 1998 03:26 PM
CHICAGO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Shares in Eli Lilly and Co bounced back 2-11/16 to 65-5/8 in late New York Stock Exchange trading Wednesday after slipping earlier in the week on concern over the recent launch of Evista for osteoporosis.
Lilly shares fell Monday after new prescriptions data for Evista, launched commercially four weeks ago, were released, causing some analysts to worry that the drug was not penetrating the market as rapidly as expected.
"The Evista prescriptions have been good, but not spectacular," said Christina Heuer, pharmaceuticals industry analyst at Salomon Smith Barney. Then on Tuesday, analysts said, Lilly executives spoke at a Merrill Lynch healthcare conference and made some remarks about Prozac's patent protection that were misinterpreted, causing another late-trading sell-off.
The shares bounced back on Wednesday as analysts urged buying on weakness, citing a strong long-term outlook.
The Prozac molecule is under patent protection until February 2001 and the drug's use is patent-protected until December 2003, analysts said.
Evista's market uptake may not be matching the instant success seen two years ago by Fosamax, another osteoporosis drug from Merck & Co Inc (Nyse:MRK) , but analysts said the drugs are not strictly comparable and Evista's long-term value could be greater because it may also fight breast cancer.
In addition, Lilly's direct-to-consumer Evista advertising campaign is scheduled to begin Sunday, analysts said. |
