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To: Robert Rose who wrote (97825)	3/30/2000 10:36:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164684

Robert, the only large position Bio-tech stock I have left is Amgn. I added again several days ago in the low 50's. If Amgn wins its law suit...I'll buy Palo Alto.;-) >Boston, March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Amgen Inc., the world's No. 1 biotechnology company, tomorrow will defend the patent on its best- selling drug against fraud claims that Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. has raised in its efforts to introduce its own version of the medicine in the U.S. At stake is one of the world's biggest medicines with about $4 billion in 1999 sales under different brand names. Amgen sold $1.8 billion of the drug under the Epogen name last year for use in dialysis patients. Johnson & Johnson, which licenses the drug from Amgen, sells it as Procrit for other cases of anemia. Procrit had 1999 sales topping $2 billion, analysts say. Amgen requested a judge's quick decision on Transkaryotic's suggestions of fraud in the Epogen patent and that lead to Thursday's hearing, analysts say. Amgen already has been seen the victor this week in preliminary hearings on other matters in the patent case ahead of a trial expected to start in May. ``Transkaryotic is fighting uphill,' said Meirav Chovav, a biotechnology analyst with Salomon Smith Barney, who has said Amgen is her top stock pick. ``Amgen has a much stronger case.' U.S. District Judge William Young tomorrow will hear argument about whether Amgen acted improperly in obtaining the Epogen patent. These kind of claims, known as inequitable conduct, often are ``last straw' attempts and rarely succeed, Chovav said. Other analysts agreed. ``Quite frankly, it's kind of a side issue,' said Elise Wang, an analyst with PaineWebber, who reiterated her ``buy' rating on Amgen Monday. Still, PaineWebber's Wang, Salomon's Chovav and other biotechnology analysts say they plan to be in Boston tomorrow to hear the latest discussions in the patent dispute. ``This couple of days could be Amgen's best days,' said ING Barings analyst Jonas Alsenas, who has a strong buy rating on Transkaryotics and a hold rating on Amgen. Earliest Hearings Amgen officials too have cautioned that these are just the earliest hearings. Still, investors have been impressed with Amgen's defense of Epogen. Amgen shares have risen 15 percent in the past three days to 62 7/8. Amgen's market capitalization rose by about $8.5 billion to $65 billion. That gives 20-year-old Amgen almost the same market value as 124-year-old rival drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co., which had more than double Amgen's 1999 net income of $1 billion. Amgen's two-day gains in market capitalization alone are more than six times the $1.3 billion value of Transkaryotic's total shares outstanding. Transkaryotic shares fell 6 1/2 to 55 in midday trading. Transkaryotic, which lost $44 million in 1999 with license and research revenue of $3.9 million, is teamed with the world's No. 7 drugmaker Aventis SA in its attempt to sell a rival version of Amgen's anemia treatment. Transkaryotic has said it might seek U.S. approval this year of its product. Like Amgen's Epogen, Transkaryotic's experimental drug is a copy of a human protein, erythropoietin, which stimulates production of red blood cells. Differing Methods Transkaryotics has claimed as part of its case that its method of making this protein differs from Amgen's. Amgen became the leader of the biotechnology industry by figuring out how to make enough of this protein outside of the human body. Judge Young spent much time yesterday and Monday learning how cells of different species, such as Chinese hamsters and monkeys, play a role in this process. An expert on matters of what can be admitted in court, Young was the principal author of Massachusetts Evidentiary Standards, 1992 through 2000 editions. Young in 1995 threw out a similar patent challenge against Amgen, finding that it was barred by an earlier U.S. Court of Appeals decision. In 1991, the Court of Appeals found that rival biotechnology company Genetics Institute's patent for erythropoietin was invalid and unenforceable. American Home Products Corp. now owns Genetics Institute. Amgen also is working on a second-generation Epogen, which would require fewer injections a month. Amgen filed late last year for approval of this new drug, called NESP. The new drug, which could be on the U.S. market in 2001, might supplant Epogen and protect Amgen's profits even if Transkaryotic succeeds in its attempt to put a rival drug on the market, analysts say. The Epogen rival could be Transkaryotic's first product with a possible 2001 U.S. introduction. Mar/29/2000 14:39