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Strategies & Market Trends : Market Gems:Stocks w/Strong Earnings and High Tech. Rank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jenna who wrote (92079)	4/6/2000 6:22:00 PM
From: Jenna	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 120523

ADRX killing the competition.. April 6 In a research note, analysts at Kleinwort said the downgrade on AstraZeneca reflected the recent U.S. approval for a generic version of its best selling ulcer drug Losec, as well as the recent advance in its shares. ``This approval (for a generic version from Andrx Inc (NasdaqNM:ADRX - news))...will be in our view the first of a number...under consideration by the FDA,' the note said, adding that five other AstraZenec branded products would go off patent through 2002 ****** ANALYSIS-No easy cure for AstraZeneca Losec patent woes By David Luhnow, European Pharmaceuticals Correspondent LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - It's a bitter pill for any company to lose a patent on a star product. Worse still when that product is the world's biggest-selling prescription drug. Anglo-Swedish drugs combine AstraZeneca Plc. (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: AZN.L) faces that grim prospect within the next two years with Losec, an anti-ulcer drug that generated almost $6 billion in 1999 sales, some 40 percent of ongoing business. AstraZeneca, the world's fourth biggest drugs company ranked by sales, has already lost some legal protection for Losec in Europe and faces challenges from cut-price competitors in Germany. In the huge U.S. market, where the drug is known as Prilosec, patent protection will likely expire in 2001. The outlook dimmed last week when U.S. regulators gave tentative approval to U.S.-based Andrx Corp. (NasdaqNM:ADRX - news) for its generic form of Prilosec -- setting the stage for competition as soon as Prilosec's patent protection goes.