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Biotech / Medical : Biogen -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: P.M.Freedman who wrote (1062)	6/20/1999 12:51:00 PM
From: JEB	Respond to of 1686

No, actually, I thought someone here has brought that up before on IMNX's drug. This information has been out there for a while.

To: P.M.Freedman who wrote (1062)	6/21/1999 11:10:00 AM
From: Harold Engstrom	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1686

PMF, I didn't like the article very much either. It did stress Avonex too much and didn't stress the strong pipeline enough. But it was The Motley Fool and TMF tends to simplify things and just brush the surface - maybe that is their method, just to point you in the right direction. You would be hard-pressed to find a better pipeline, better earnings growth and better bottom-line financials than Biogen. Biogen currently has 4 drugs approved and 5 very promising drugs in late-stage trials (PII and PIII). Earnings are growing at 60% currently, but are likely to slow to 30% growth next year before accelerating again in 2001. The company has roughly $650MM in cash and no debt and is adding roughly $50MM cash per quarter - all while spending 32% of its revenues on R&D. Immunex's MS drug supposedly has some significant ide-effects ("neutropenia (a reduced number of white blood cells), infection and alopecia(hair loss)"), so although it may file first, I wouldn't worry about it seeing widespread prescription unless it shows far more efficacy than alternatives. You can sleep soundly, PMF, your Biogen investment is safe from this drug.