from briefing:<p>
ALTEON INC (ALTN) 4 15/16 -4 15/16. Stock has had a 50% percent chunk taken out of its hide following the biotech
company's announcement that it received recommendations from its External Safety Monitoring Committee to discontinue its
ACTION II, a phase III trial of pimagedine in Type II diabetic patients with overt nephropathy. The company says that the
recommendation is based on the ESMC's observation of an increased incidence of side effects in the Type II patient
population. The final decision will be made promptly after review and consultation with the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) and Alteon's commercial partner, Genentech, Inc. The ESMC recommended continuation of the ACTION I trial, which
is currently scheduled for completion and data release prior to the end of 1998, as planned. So far this morning we haven't
heard anything out of NB Montgomery Securities or Salomon Brothers Smith Barney, which initiated coverage of the stock
with a "buy" and an "outperform," respectively, in January. If at least one of those firms comes out and says the sell-off is
overdone and the company's pipeline is still strong, this stock could experience a decent reversal. Hence, there could be a
couple of bucks to be made out of what has so far been a disaster. |
