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

To: William Partmann who wrote (1193)	1/12/2000 9:07:00 AM
From: William Partmann	Respond to of 1686

Biogen Expects to Beat Estimates CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - Multiple sclerosis drug maker Biogen Inc. (NasdaqNM:BGEN - news) said on Tuesday that it expected to report fourth-quarter earnings per share of about 44 cents, handily beating analysts' estimates. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical firm said sales of its MS-drug Avonex were expected to be about $180 million in the fourth quarter, up from $163.4 million in the third quarter. But despite the expectations, the stock closed 5-13/16 lower at 74-15/16, apparently caught in a downdraft that chilled the pharmaceutical sector. That fall from grace followed a run-up in the stock on Monday when it climbed 4-3/8. Biogen head Jim Mullen told analysts at the Chase H&Q Healthcare Conference in San Francisco that 83,000 MS patients worldwide, including about 62,000 in the United States, were taking Avonex and he anticipated that would rise to 100,000 by year-end. ``It's been a bad day for the sector,' noted Warburg Dillon Reed analyst A. Rachel Leheny. ``Biogen's numbers look good to me' noting they beat her estimates on both earnings per share and sales for the quarter. She noted shares in biotech companies Amgen (NasdaqNM:AMGN - news) and Genentech also fell. Amgen was down 5-11/16 to close at 66-7/8 and Genentech (NYSE:DNA - news) ended off 7 to close at 138-1/2. According to First Call/Thomson Financial, analysts expect Biogen to earn 42 cents per share for the fourth quarter when it reports its earning for the quarter and the year on Thursday. Biogen had no comment on its stock price. SG Cowen Securities Corp analyst Eric Schmidt said Biogen looked ``like it has a very solid quarter...and I expect that it will continue to have a few more like that this year.' But Salomon Smith Barney analyst Meirav Chovav downgraded Biogen last week to neutral from outperform. In her comments at the time, she cited concern about Biogen's liability if it loses litigation over Chiron's patent for beta-interferon production. Avonex is Biogen's beta-interferon product. Chovav was at the San Francisco conference and could not be immediately reached for comment. But Schmidt said that even if Biogen loses the suit ``that's still nine months off. And it's not clear to me that they will lose it. I think the downside risk is minimal.' Related Quotes DNA