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Phase III Trial Hopes Behind Rise In QLT Stk -Analyst
By LORI MCLEOD
Dow Jones Newswires
TORONTO -- QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc.'s (QLTIF) stock is up partly on anticipation the company will report good Phase III trials for its verteporfin product, Ann Dulhanty, an analyst with Dundee Securities Corp., told Dow Jones.
Friday in Toronto, QLT shares are up 2.75, or 11%, at 28.75, on volume of about 159,000 shares.
QLT's shares rose 1.90 in Toronto in total in the previous three trading sessions.
Verteporfin is a potential treatment for age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
Dulhanty said strong results from Phase II verteporfin trials bode well for the success of the Phase III trials.
As reported, QLT said it is assessing the results of the completed Phase III trials, with the results to be reported in the first quarter of 1999.
Analyst Michael Jams of Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion Inc. said QLT has sent out information packages regarding the verteporfin trials, suggesting it is "clearly ready for good news."
Information packages sent to analysts by QLT regarding verteporfin didn't contain any previously unreleased information, a QLT spokeswoman said.
Information packages sent to analysts by QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc. (QLTIF) regarding verteporfin didn't contain any previously unreleased information, a QLT spokeswoman said.
A report by Warburg Dillon Read & Co. in Switzerland is the most likely reason for QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc.'s (QLTIF) share price rise Friday, a QLT spokeswoman said.
The report cited verteporfin as an "important" product for Swiss company Novartis AG (Z.NOV), the spokeswoman added. Novartis' CIBA Vision Corp. unit is developing verteporfin with QLT.
The spokeswoman added that QLT is "still evaluating" Phase III trial results for verteporfin, a potential treatment for age-related macular degeneration.
"If all goes well," analyst Ann Dulhanty of Dundee Securities Corp. said, she's estimating QLT's sales for age-related macular degeneration treatment products at about $168 million in 2000.
Those sales should "ramp up" further in subsequent years, she added.
Dulhanty said she doesn't release her target prices, but said she's maintaining a "buy" recommendation on QLT.
Dulhanty added it isn't surprising to see large share price movements in the volatile biotechnology sector, especially for thinly traded stocks.
-By Lori McLeod: 416-943-7800
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