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Biotech / Medical : QIAGEN (QGENF) - Star of Germany's Biotechs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J. Paul Gaskill who wrote (66)	2/29/2000 3:06:00 PM
From: mr_blonde	Respond to of 122

ANALYSIS-Booming Euro biotech faces pivotal year By Arindam Nag LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Europe's biotech sector -- mirroring its big brother in the U.S. -- is bouncing back after the crash of 1998 amid a growing conviction that 2000 will be the year in which key new medicines prove their worth. With at least eight new drugs scheduled to hit the market this year and dozens more expected to progress in the clinic, the outlook for the sector in Europe is arguably more promising than it has ever been. Companies that often struggled to attract investor interest last year have shown dramatic share price rises since the start of 2000 and at least 17 newcomers are preparing to launch initial public offerings (IPOs). Celltech Group Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CCH.L), for example, which was upgraded by Goldman Sachs on Monday, now has a market capitalisation of nearly 3.5 billion pounds ($5.56 billion) and could be the first biotech firm to enter the UK's blue chip FTSE 100 index. Many others are also flying high. Cambridge Antibody (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CAT.L) is trading at more than 19 pounds having started the year at 638 pence, Cantab (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CTB.L) is up from 202p to 366, Antisoma has risen from 111p to two pounds and Ares-Serono has climbed from 3,500 to around 5,300 Swiss francs. Former giants like British Biotech (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BBG.L), Cortecs -- now renamed Provalis (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: PRO.L) -- and Biocompatibles (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BII.L) dragged down the whole sector with their problems less than two years ago. But already those dark days seem to be distant memory. Analysts say that companies with near-term earnings, product approvals and an interesting late stage pipeline will fare best. ``If this is the start of a biotech bubble then investors need to consider which European biotechs are best placed to weather a change in investor sentiment,' said Stephen McGarry of Goldman Sachs. Companies like Celltech, Shire Pharmaceuticals (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: SHP.L) and Qiagen (NasdaqNM:QGENF - news) -- a Dutch company with a market value of around $6.0 billion -- are seen as role models not only by investors but also by scientists. SIZE MATTERS A recent study by Warburg Dillon Read suggests that in order to draw the interest of general financial insitutions a company should strive for a minimum capitalisation of $250 million. In order to achieve that companies may have look for a much broader portfolio of products. Vanguard Medica (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: VGD.L), for example, was hit last year by problems with its migraine treatment Miguard. Since then it has expanded research into cancer treatments, bought a private company called Cerebrus and inherited an obesity product via an alliance with Swiss drugs giant Roche . Its shares have risen from 116-1/2 pence to 345p since last November. ``Companies with a small number of bets are not viewed well,' says Colin Wyatt, a life science consultant with Ernst & Young. But he warns against expanding into unrelated therapeutic areas, arguing biotechs are better off leveraging a core set of skills or a technology platform into a range of products. He cites the example of Dutch firm Pharming -- shares up from 7.5 euros last December to 24.5 euros -- which has used its protein development technology to develop treatments for a range of diseases. U.S INVESTOR INTEREST Another factor behind the rising share prices has been sustained U.S. investor interest in key European stocks, with attention focused particularly on genomics and monoclonal antibodies. Shares of genomics company Genset have risen from 25 euros to 188 euros on the Nouveau Marche since November. Oxford Glycosciences (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: OGS.L) has also won a keen U.S. fan club by going out of its way to explain its business -- understanding links between genes, proteins and disease -- direct to investors. Its shares have risen from five pounds to 24 pounds in the last four months. Many more companies are now queuing up to tap the market with Goldman Sachs predicting that at least 17 biotech IPOs are in the pipeline, raising over $800 million. Those waiting to take their place in the public arena this year include: DeCode Genetics and Gemini (on Nasdaq), Profile Therapeutics, Pharmagene, Weston Medical (in London) and Lion Biosciences and Medigene (Neuer Markt). biz.yahoo.com