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Strategies & Market Trends : Galapagos Islands -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Swift who wrote (46662)	8/22/2003 1:16:45 AM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57110

i think the problem with the sector in general is the looming medicare drug benefit coupled with the potential market (and margin) erosion due to the generics. marketwatch.com Pfizer, pharma sector continue slide By Ted Griffith, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 4:27 PM ET Aug. 21, 2003 BOSTON (CBS.MW) -- Pharmaceutical stocks fell for the fourth straight session Thursday, with shares of Pfizer losing 3 percent after an analyst raised the specter of generic competition to the company's top drug. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index ($DRG: news, chart, profile) declined 1.2 percent to 303.63. Shares of Pfizer (PFE: news, chart, profile), the world's largest pharmaceutical company, fell 95 cents to $29.79 on volume of 60.1 million, making it the most active issue on the New York Stock Exchange. Analyst George Grofik at Smith Barney cut his rating on Pfizer shares to "in line," citing concerns about the potential for a generic rival to the company's Lipitor, a cholesterol medication and the top-selling prescription drug in the world. While other analysts have downplayed the threat of generic competition, Grofik said in a note to clients that he believes "there are significant risks" to Lipitor. Pfizer reaped nearly $8 billion from sales of the cholesterol medication last year. See full story. Pfizer shares had also lost ground Wednesday after U.S. regulators approved a new impotence remedy from Bayer (BAY: news, chart, profile) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK: news, chart, profile) that will compete with Pfizer's blockbuster Viagra. The stock of the No. 1 drugmaker is off nearly 6 percent over the last four sessions. See full story. Bayer shares slipped 33 cents to $22 and GlaxoSmithKline shares shed 82 cents to $38.93. In the biotechnology sector, shares of Cephalon (CEPH: news, chart, profile) slid 73 cents to $44.13 after the company sparked a bidding war for Cima Labs (CIMA: news, chart, profile). Cephalon offered about $372 million in cash for Cima, a move aimed at trumping an earlier buyout offer from AaiPharma (AAII: news, chart, profile).See full story. Cima shares surged $3.27, or 14 percent, to $26.85 while shares of AaiPharma fell 62 cents to $16.67. The Amex Biotechnology Index (BTK: news, chart, profile) rose 1.3 percent to 455.50, and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (NBI: news, chart, profile) added 1.9 percent to 731.45.