Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RockyBalboa who wrote (5390)	7/14/2000 4:01:35 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19428

Lies!, this stock goes way lower, Docs aren't getting 60% reimbursement: "QLT Says Profit Taking, Not Dngrade, Sent Stk Lower Thu 7/14/0 12:15 (New York) (most thought they would get $2,300 per procedure, but they probably get $1,600) By Stuart Weinberg TORONTO (Dow Jones)--The sharp decline in QLT Inc.'s (QLTI) share price Thursday was a result of profit taking, a senior company official said. QLT chief financial officer Kenneth Galbraith told Dow Jones that QLT and several other biotech companies, including Biogen Inc. (BGEN), Medimmune Inc. (MEDI) and Immunex Corp. (IMNX), were stung by profit takers. Biogen fell 2 3/4 to 65 3/8 on Nasdaq Thursday, while Medimmune fell 10 3/4 to 69.00, Immunex was off 6 7/8 to 55 1/16 and QLT dropped 10 1/8 to 59 1/4. In Friday trading, QLT is unchanged on Nasdaq but is up 0.25 to 88.25 in Toronto. Biogen is up 11/16 to 66 1/16, Medimmune is up 2 1/4 to 71 1/4 and Immunex is up 1 1/8 to 56 13/16. "The (biotech) sector has run up quite a bit this year and there was some profit taking on the institutional side (Thursday)," Galbraith said. "The profit taking is indiscriminate. It doesn't matter that QLT launched Visudyne, the product with the highest expectations in the biotechnology sector this year." Galbraith said a ratings downgrade by HCFP Brenner wasn't a large factor in Thursday's decline. HCFP analyst Sam Gerszonowicz lowered QLT to "neutral" from "buy," citing the threat of future competition for Visudyne as the main reason for the downgrade. Visudyne is a the only treatment on the market for age-related macular degeneration, a disorder that causes blindness. It has has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is awaiting final regulatory approval in Europe. The market for age-related macular degeneration treatments in the U.S. and Europe is estimated at US$1.7 billion annually. In an interview with Dow Jones Thursday, HCFP's Gerszonowicz said it can take as long as two years for Visudyne to halt the progress of age-related macular degeneration, during which time a patient's vision will continue to deteriorate. But Galbraith said Visudyne is the only hope for thousands of people who would otherwise lose their vision. "The bottom line is, Visudyne is the only approved effective therapy on the market," he said. "It's helping patients right now. Many of our competitors products are three to five years away from being approved." Company Web site - qltinc.com