Immunex Hits Record High Amid Hopes for Enbrel Sales (Update1)
Bloomberg News
November 23, 1998, 5:00 p.m. ET
Immunex Hits Record High Amid Hopes for Enbrel Sales (Update1)
(Updates with closing stock price.)
Seattle, Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Immunex Corp. shares rose to
a record high, gaining 5.8 percent, amid hopes for strong sales
of its new rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, introduced earlier
this month.
Shares in Immunex, majority owned by American Home Products
Corp., rose 5 1/8 to 92 in trading of 1.62 million, more than
twice the three-month daily average. Earlier they touched a
record high of 94 7/8.
Investors have high hopes for Enbrel, a breakthrough
bioengineered drug that's been shown to relieve symptoms of
rheumatoid arthritis in patients who have failed on other
therapies for the debilitating disease. Immunex shares have
soared 70 percent this year amid expectations the drug will be a
blockbuster, with some analysts forecasting peak annual sales in
excess of $1 billion.
''I think there's a lot of potential out there for Enbrel,''
said Heather Morris, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott.
''The company has done a very good job of marketing.''
IMS Health, a firm that tracks data on pharmaceutical sales,
was expected to release its first report on sales of Enbrel,
which won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval on Nov. 2.
Officials at IMS weren't immediately able to provide data on
Enbrel prescriptions.
Immunex Chief Executive Edward Fritzky declined to comment
on today's rally, saying its his policy not to discuss
fluctuations in the company's share price.
New Class of Drugs
Enbrel is among the first of a new class of drugs to combat
inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis by blocking a
naturally occurring compound called tumor necrosis factor.
Morris today cut her recommendation on Immunex shares to
''hold'' from ''accumulate,'' saying news of Enbrel's approval
and launch have buoyed the stock price above her 12-month target
price of $73.
Shares in money-losing Immunex have risen from a 52-week low
of 49 7/8 in early October -- about a month before the drug was
cleared for sale. Analysts say Enbrel's approval will allow the
company to report a profit next year.
Enbrel is competing with older drugs and Hoechst AG's Arava.
Arava is a pill recently approved to slow the progression of
rheumatoid arthritis that's similar to methotrexate, a generic
drug that is now the standard of care for patients with the
disease.
Centocor Inc., a biotechnology company with three products
on the market, is also seeking approval to market its Crohn's
disease drug Remicade as a rheumatoid-arthritis treatment.
Centocor shares fell 3 3/16 to 42 3/4.
Malvern, Pennsylvania-based Centocor last week disclosed
that it had warned doctors about side effects in people who
resumed treatment with its Remicade drug for a bowel disorder
after being taken off the drug.
The side effects, including muscular pain, rash, fever and
swelling, required the hospitalization of 15 percent of patients
in a study of an experimental version of the drug.
American Home Products rose 3/4 to 53 5/8.
--Jim Finkle in the Washington newsroom (202) 624-1937 with |
