cl, my post is just curiosity. Regards the ctii acquisition, it has very low probability. Recent drop is in line with market interest in BT and concern for further market performance. This days was "9th Annual Meeting of the Society for Pain Management", Scottsdale, Arizona, and maybe ctii was present with presentation on PII trial for pain. Didn't hear anything.
mz
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Astra says R&D buys could be in new areas
Source: Reuters
STOCKHOLM, Reuters via Individual Inc. : Swedish drugs company Astra
AB <ASTRa.ST> said on Thursday that any further acquisitions in research
and development in the next year or two would probably be in new research
areas.
"But at the same time it is difficult to completely rule out an acquisition within
existing research areas," Astra spokesman Staffan Ternby told Reuters.
Astra's head of research Claes Wilhelmsson, as he released the company's
1996 report, said he was very happy with the projects currently in Astra's
research portfolio.
"We have as much as we can handle in our existing research areas,"
Wilhelmsson said.
New areas that could become a priority are osteoporosis, cancer, Multiple
Sclerosis, strokes, diabetes, arteriosclerosis and analgesics in a wider sense
than local anaesthetics.
Additionally, there is the central nervous system, CNS, area where Astra has
rather extensive research, but which not yet constitutes a priority area.
"At least two of these will become priority research areas within Astra,"
Ternby said.
Astra does exploratory research in all these areas, but does clinical research
only in osteoporosis.
"Here, we acquired a research project last year... They have produced a
thyroxin which seems very interesting," Ternby said. The product has entered
clinical phase II trials.
Astra also has its own research in osteoporosis, but Ternby did not want to
say whether it was likely that osteoporosis would become one of the new
research areas.
Ternby pointed out that there will not necessarily be any large acquisitions this
year and referred to Astra's chief executive Hakan Mogren's statements at a
press conference in connection with the company's release of its 1996 report.
Mogren said then that Astra might give more detailed information in 1997
about coming projects.
"The projects he is thinking about, he hopes to be able to talk about in a year,
but this does not mean that the acquisitions will happen in a year," Ternby
said.
-- Joel Dahlberg, Stockholm newsroom +46-8-700 1011 |
