Pretty nice coverage in IBD. Sure wish it had stayed up +20...
Nasdaq Gives Up Early Gain
To Close Flat Oracle Gaps
Ahead Amid Upgrade; Intel
Falls To 9-Week Low
Date: 3/17/97
Author: C. Kinou Treiser
...
Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc., up 20 1/2
intraday, closed ahead 4 3/4 to 80 1/2 on four
times its average volume. The FDA approved use
of its Viracept protease inhibitor to fight AIDS.
Protease inhibitors block an enzyme that's key to
the development of the HIV virus. Viracept is the
fourth of these drugs to win FDA approval but it's
expected to quickly win market share.
The lead drug, Merck's Crixivan, leads to kidney
stones in a small percent of patients, says Ethan
Lovell, an analyst with Bear, Stearns & Co.
Viracept's main side effect is frequent, but mild,
diarrhea that's probably controllable with
medication, he said.
As well, mutations of the HIV virus that develop
as a result of Viracept may prove less dangerous
than those that develop as a result of Crixivan.
''It looks like the mutants associated with
Viracept are less resistant to other medication,''
Lovell said. ''But they also develop more
quickly.''
(C) Copyright 1997 Investors Business Daily,
Inc. |
