Wednesday October 30 12:18 PM EST
Cowen trims Centocor Inc ReoPro expectations
NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuter) - Cowen and Co analyst Joyce Lonergan said on Wednesday she
cut her "aggressive" forecasts by 30 percent for 1997 sales of Centocor's blood-clot fighting
drug ReoPro.
In a report, Lonergan said that after a meeting with the company, she expected as a result to make
"downward revisions" to her earnings per share estimates for Centocor.
She said she expected the company's earnings to be closer to the Wall Street consensus of $0.53
a share for 1997, about 50 percent below her forecast of $1.05, and $1.33 for 1997, below her
view of $2.25.
ReoPro is sold by Centocor's partner Eli Lilly and Co .
"We have been ReoPro bulls and our estimates reflect our admittedly aggressive thinking on the
drug, plus positive guidance from (Lilly)," the Cowen report said.
"We believe the key reason for the more gradual than expected, albeit steady, (ReoPro) rollout is
that it is taking longer than expected to convince interventional cardiologists, who generally
prefer devices to drugs, to use ReoPro," it added.
The report did not list new ReoPro sales estimates from Cowen, but a September report from the
firm had annual sales forecasts of $160 million in 1996, rising to $650 million in 1999.
Lonergan lowered her rating on the stock to neutral from strong buy, saying the revised earnings
estimates suggested a fair value at around $30 a share.
The stock was off 1-1/2 to 26-5/8.
--New York Newsdesk, 212-859-1733 |
