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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SemiBull who wrote (31290)	4/3/2003 8:12:13 PM
From: SemiBull	Respond to of 32384

Analyst Sees Success for Ligand From Avinza Sales Force Thursday April 3, 4:39 pm ET By Adam L. Freeman NEW YORK -- Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NasdaqNM:LGND - News) rose Thursday after an analyst said a sales force for its pain drug Avinza will result in improved revenue. In 4 p.m. EST trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market (News - Websites), shares of Ligand were up $ 1.07, or 16%, at $7.68. Fortis Bank analyst Bartjan van Hulten said the company's "effective sales force is now in place to successfully market Avinza." He upgraded the stock to " buy" from "hold" based on this opinion. In late February, Organon, a unit of Roseland, N.J., health-care product maker Akzo Nobel , said it reached an agreement to co-promote Avinza, a morphine-based painkiller for moderate-to-severe pain. In a written statement, Organon said it will promote the product with more than 700 representatives in three sales forces: primary care, hospital ( anesthesiology) and specialty (pain centers). Although the revenue impact of the sales force won't be apparent in Ligand's first-quarter financials, "it is only a matter of time before revenues start kicking in," the analyst said. "Avinza sales force now has more than ten-folded, and we feel sufficiently comfortable that investors can start buying the stock in anticipation of revenues and profitability for the company," Mr. van Hulten said. Consequentially, Mr. van Hulten raised his 12-month price target to $10 from $ 6. The analyst wasn't available for comment regarding possible ownership of Ligand shares. However, the bank has a recent investment-banking history with the company. -By Adam L. Freeman, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5023