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Biotech / Medical : Biotechnology & Drugs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (215)	11/25/2003 11:18:27 PM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 232

S&P sees biotech sector growth topping 20 percent Tuesday November 25, 3:55 pm ET NEW YORK, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Biotechnology industry sales are set to grow more than 20 percent in 2004, driven by increased sales of existing drugs and a promising pipeline of new drugs in development, according to a report by the ratings and research firm Standard & Poor's. ADVERTISEMENT Growth will be lead by the top biotechnology companies, which are capturing a bigger percentage of the total pharmaceuticals market, the newly-released report - Industry Survey on Biotechnology - said. "There are still plenty of drugs that have already been approved that have strong growth ahead of them," said Frank DiLorenzo, an S&P analyst and author of the report. "And we're expecting a slew of new approvals in 2004 and 2005." The vast majority of sales will be concentrated in a handful of companies such as Amgen Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMGN - News) and Genentech Inc.(NYSE:DNA - News) which are building product franchises around lucrative disease areas, the report said. And while biotechnology companies have built up a good deal of expertise in cancer, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases, they are now branching into markets that have traditionally been the domain of big pharmaceuticals companies, DiLorenzo said. Standard & Poor's expects industry revenue to grow 23 percent in 2003 to $38.3 billion and by a similar amount in 2004. It expects U.S. biotechnology companies to generate $5 billion in sales of cancer therapeutics in 2003. "Over the longer term, the prevalence of cancer and demographic trends should support robust growth for cancer medications," which in the U.S. is second only to heart disease as a leading course of death, the report said. DiLorenzo said that five biotechnology companies, Amgen, Biogen Inc. (NasdaqNM:BIIB - News), Chiron Corp.(NasdaqNM:CHIR - News), Genentech and Genzyme Corp.(NasdaqNM:GENZ - News) have held the top revenue spots among U.S.-based biotechnology companies for several years, with combined 2002 revenue of $11.6 billion, or about 37 percent of total industry revenue. "We project that these top five firms will take in about $15.7 billion, or 41 percent of projected 2003 industry revenue," the report said. With Amgen's 2002 acquisition of Immunex Corp. and Idec's recent merger with Biogen, many smaller firms must weigh the pros and cons of remaining independent, the report said. The heavy cost of research and development and attractive growth prospects for some existing drugs "will promote ongoing consolidation and partnering trends."