Prospector and all,
Howdy all. I am sorry I don't contribute much here, but I have enough going on other places and it is safe to say I am a SGNC shareholder :-)
Today I will contribute a little:
Baxter sets Q3 charges, drops HemAssist product
DEERFIELD, Ill., Sept 16 (Reuters) - Baxter Healthcare Corp. (NYSE:BAX - news) said
Wednesday it would take third quarter charges of $178 million related to breast implant
litigation and $75 million to drop development of its blood substitute product, HemAssist, which
is derived from human hemoglobin.
The company also said it anticipates taking a third-quarter charge against net earnings of about $40 million, primarily for the write
down of certain minority investments and the dissolution of certain joint ventures.
The company said it has decided to focus its research-and-development efforts in oxygen-carrying therapeutics, or ''blood
substitutes,'' on its second-generation program, which is based on genetically engineered hemoglobin molecules.
Ending its development of HemAssist will force the company to eliminate about 100 jobs worldwide. The company said it would
offer some of those employees jobs developing the second generation program or in its other businesses.
Baxter halted its Phase III U.S. clinical trial of HemaAssist in February because it noticed higher mortality rates among patients
using HemaAssist than those given a placebo, prompting Baxter to determine the results to be inconclusive, Baxter spokeswoman,
Mary Thomas said.
She said The company halted the European clincal trial of the product in June because of concerns about the drug's safety and
efficacy.
Baxter said in its statement that it will modify its manufacturing facility in Neuchatel, Switzerland, which was designed to
manufacture a human hemoglobin product, to produce other Baxter biopharmaceutical products.
While we're disappointed, delays are sometimes part of the process of developing breakthrough medical therapies such as
oxygen-carrying therapeutics," said Harry Jansen Kraemer, Baxter's president.
Kraemer described halting the development of HemAssist as ''a difficult decision,'' but said it wasn't clear whether its market
value would have outweighed development costs.
First call analysts' consensus put Baxter's earnings at $0.61 per share for the third quarter.
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