***slightly OT***
must be nice to stay local.
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Boston Scientific soars on new CEO, FDA approvals
Reuters Story - March 18, 1999 11:44
BOSTON, March 18 (Reuters) - Shares of Boston Scientific Corp. climbed 15 percent early Thursday, boosted by news that Biogen Inc.'s former chief executive officer, James Tobin, would take that position at the medical device maker.
"Tobin has always been viewed as a straight-shooter," Hambrecht & Quist analyst Robert Faulkner said. "He's widely respected on the Street and he brings credibility that the company desperately needs."
At 11 a.m., EST, Boston Scientific was up 4-7/8 to 38-3/8 in heavy trading. It was the New York Stock Exchange's fifth most active issue.
In the last two days the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two Boston Scientific products, Faulkner added.
He said the products were not major ones but the approvals were an "indication that despite their earlier problems with the (U.S.) Justice Department, the FDA is continuing to review and in a timely way approve their systems."
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the company for any changes it might have made to a coronary stent delivery system it launched last year after the Food and Drug Administration approved it on Aug. 12. Surgeons use the product to prop up and unclog weakened coronary arteries.
CS First Boston has already upgraded the company, which is introducing Tobin to analysts at a conference Thursday. |
