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

To: Biomaven who wrote (3944)	5/31/2001 5:03:29 PM
From: IRWIN JAMES FRANKEL	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 52153

KOSP - Hi Peter, The last time I looked at the Niaspan scripts they were actually dropping slightly - something like 20bp. More importantly over recent months they were rather flat. Do you think that the combo of Niaspan with an old line statin will create a market for the drug? It seems to me that the BIG win would come if the market leading statins decided to offer a combo with their drugs on a royalty basis. But wouldn't that require separate Phase III studies. Yet, nothing stands in the way of cardiologists prescribing Niaspan with the leading statins right now. ij

To: Biomaven who wrote (3944)	5/31/2001 5:49:03 PM
From: Biomaven	Respond to of 52153

Here's some more on the generic patent squabbles. I still own some ADRX: Thursday May 31, 5:23 pm Eastern Time Generic drug stocks jump on court rulings (UPDATE: Recasts first paragraph, adds details, stock prices paragraphs 3-6, 9-13, 17) By Jed Seltzer NEW YORK, May 31 (Reuters) - Stocks of generic drug makers jumped on Thursday after two favorable court rulings regarding patents on blockbuster treatments, antidepressant Prozac and Prilosec for heartburn and ulcers. ADVERTISEMENT Shares of Barr Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:BRL - news) soared after an appeals court panel on Wednesday upheld a decision that would permit generic versions of the blockbuster antidepressant Prozac by August. Barr's shares closed up $3.57, or 5.27 percent, to $71.27 on the New York Stock Exchange, while shares of Pharmaceutical Resources Inc. (NYSE:PRX - news) rose $3.86, or 18.29 percent, to close at $24.96, a new 52-week high. Both companies plan to market generic versions of Prozac as early as August. A New York federal judge decided against Anglo-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca Plc in one of several patent disputes over heartburn and ulcer medicine Prilosec, indicating that generic versions of the drug may be on the near-term horizon. Shares of Andrx Corp. (NasdaqNM:ADRX - news), which is being sued by AstraZeneca in a different case over Prilosec generic competition, rose $3.17, or 4.91 percent, to close at $67.68 on the Nasdaq. Andrx expects to have six months of U.S. exclusivity marketing a generic version of Prilosec. PROZAC, OTHER NEWS AIDS GENERICS On Wednesday, Barr said a three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Washington had upheld an earlier decision that a patent on Prozac held by Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY - news) was invalid. The patent could have extended Lilly's patent protection, and prevented generic competition, until December 2003. Pomona, N.Y.-based Barr is expected to have up to six months of exclusivity as the only generic seller of a 20 millgram capsule of Prozac. Meanwhile, Pharmaceutical Resources said it would have six months generic exclusivity on the 10 mg. and 20 mg. tablet forms of the drug, as well as the 40 mg. capsule form. The 40 mg. capsule form is being licensed from Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (NYSE:RDY - news), whose stock rose $1.91, or 13.55 percent, to $16.01 on the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks of other generic drug makers rose on Thursday, reflecting brightened prospects for the copycat drugs. Shares of Ivax Corp. (AMEX:IVX - news) climbed $1.13, or 3.47 percent, to $33.70, shares of Mylan Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:MYL - news) rose 93 cents, or 3.01 percent, to $31.81 and shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NasdaqNM:TEVA - news) rose $2.81, or 5.11 percent, to $57.76. Shares of Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE:WPI - news) rose $1.24, or 2.11 percent, to $60.10. BARR TO BENEFIT IF DECISION HOLDS Analysts described the Prozac court decision as another nail in the coffin for Lilly's branded exclusivity over the drug, following the original appeals court decision in August 2000. Analysts Steven Valiquette of UBS Warburg and Elliot Wilbur of CIBC World Markets said on Wednesday the decision was likely to stand, although Lilly has said it might ask for a rehearing or petition the U.S. Supreme Court. Wilbur estimated Barr could generate sales of about $400 million from its generic version of Prozac for its fiscal year starting in July. Barr is expected to have total revenues of just over $500 million for the current fiscal year, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. Pharmaceutical Resources in its statement on Thursday acknowledged that the 20 mg. capsule version -- over which Barr is slated to have six months generic exclusivity -- comprises a ``large majority'' of Prozac sales. First Union Securities said in a research note that it expects Barr to generate revenues of about $270 million from a copycat Prozac in the drug's first 12 months on the market. First Union argued that because Lilly may slow its marketing of Prozac once generic competition reaches the market, sellers of generic versions may be hurt as Prozac loses market share to other antidepressants. ``Furthermore, additional (generic) applicants stand ready to enter the market as soon as (Barr's) exclusivity expires,'' First Union said. Peter