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

To: tuck who wrote (608)	5/4/2001 3:00:39 PM
From: tuck	Respond to of 1784

Preview of QGENF earnings Monday: >>FRANKFURT, May 4 (Reuters) - Qiagen N.V. (NasdaqNM:QGENF - news) , the world's largest maker of DNA purification kits, is likely to post a 33 percent rise in first-quarter operating profit on Monday, benefiting from the race to understand gene functions and develop drugs, according to analysts. The Dutch-based holding company, listed on the German Neuer Markt and the U.S. Nasdaq, will probably report earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $9.8 million in the three months to the end of March, according to the average forecast of four analysts polled by Reuters. They forecast a 46 percent gain in sales to $61.51 million and a six percent drop in net income to $4.9 million, compared with the first quarter last year. The results will include Sawady Group, the Japanese synthetic nucleic acid producer Qiagen bought on March 31. The company expects to take a $3 million acquisition charge. Sawady posted sales of $10 million in 2000. ``The acquisition of Sawady will put a few million on the top-line growth,'' said Erica Whittaker, an analyst at Merrill Lynch in London. ``Qiagen's core business is still doing well.'' Qiagen makes kits which handle, separate and purify nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA. Rival San Diego-based Invitrogen Corp (NasdaqNM:IVGN - news) has also prospered, with its first-quarter operating profit last week beating analysts' expectations. Biotech toolmaker Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI - news), however, announced a decline in first-quarter sales growth, as demand for machinery to analyse genes is slowing. Analysts said many biotechs are cutting back on equipment spending to save capital while financial markets are bearish. Qiagen posts results at 2000 GMT on Monday, after the Nasdaq index closes. Its first-quarter results for last year have been adjusted to include Operon Technologies Inc., which was consolidated over the year after Qiagen acquired it in June 2000.<< QGENF does make instruments for genetic analysis as well as consumables, so I am cautious WRT what guidance they might offer on future instrument sales. If they offer convincing evidence that it'll be OK, QGENF would be a buy on any pull-back, IMO. It's a leading Trickle company, and if it turns out that getting shot along with ABI was unjustified . . . If the call is not archived beyond next Friday, I hope some fellow TrickleMaven might listen and post notes. Ditto the other calls I mentioned (BDAL, EBIO, etc). Cheers, Tuck

To: tuck who wrote (608)	5/4/2001 3:58:03 PM
From: nigel bates	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1784

Trickle's offer to buy the first round of beer for fellow TrickleMavens that wander into S.D. still stands Sorry, it's France this summer. May be in San Jose in December/January. Isn't SD just over the hill ? <g> nig

To: tuck who wrote (608)	5/18/2001 5:45:44 PM
From: tuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1784

Just got back from Reudi Aebersold's talk on methods of analysis in proteomics. I was listening mainly with respect to what tools would be used. Although Dr. Aebersold agrees with the litany that there is no platform technology for proteomics in the way that sequencers are the workhorses of genomics, every method he mentioned involved the use of LC/MS/MS. Some techniques require more front end steps in the form of chemical tweaking (labeling) of the analytes for abundance studies, to additional fractionation steps to make less complicated mixtures (in a nutshell, because complex mixtures reduce speed/sensitivity of the MS techniques (more noise)). If that's all he sees on the horizon, it appears to Trickle that manufacturers of LC/MS/MS set-ups are where it's at in proteomics. And a boost in sales of digesters and fractionating stuff. The techniques he talked of are more expensive than 2-D gels, but have much more dynamic range (for finding those rare proteins) and analytical power. There are limitations, but it's still the best technique out there for the foreseeable future, and the Dr. Aebersold's of the world are putting a lot of effort into refining it. Cheers, Tuck