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

To: rkrw who wrote (347)	9/8/1999 8:41:00 PM
From: Chris Petty	Respond to of 804

I am holding Celg so rest assured I like the prospects for the stock. I have also made the choice that the possibility of adverse publicity is a tolerable risk however, this is in my mind one of the largest risks for the stock. I think CELG are doing all the right things (strict guidelines, the STEPS program and other safeguards we have discussed) and I hope that these are successful. The risks IMHO are political rather than medical or scientific. There are, as pointed out, plenty of drugs that are teratogenic, and many of them have effects worse than Thalidomide. The difference with T is that Joe public recognizes it and knows the history. That means that unlike other 'problem' drugs a single mistake will likely be considered very newsworthy by every news channel in the country. There is real risk that in the simplistic sound-bite coverage it will get, Joe Public will be outraged and very significant political pressure will be generated to 'do something.' I believe that this risk is tolerable because of the great prospects the company has, the steps they are taking to guard against this 'nightmare scenario' and the targeted medical conditions they have chosen to pursue to gain initial acceptance. So I don't think this belief is paranoid at all, rather it is a risk that needs to be weighed against the potential upside. MondoCJP