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Strategies & Market Trends : Ask Vendit Off-Topic Questions -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Walkingshadow who wrote (6938)	3/23/2005 12:48:27 PM
From: sandintoes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8752

AND....what are you and Reid???

To: Walkingshadow who wrote (6938)	3/23/2005 12:55:20 PM
From: Jill	Respond to of 8752

Milken ex-exec trades set off alarms: Biogen Idec probe grows By Brett Arends and John Strahinich Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - Updated: 02:50 AM EST Federal investigators have widened their probe into stock sales at Biogen Idec to include outside director Robert Pangia, sources told the Herald. Pangia cashed in $1.4 million worth of stock options last month, just days before the Cambridge biotech notified the Food and Drug Administration of problems with its blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri. Pangia made the trade Feb. 14. That was just four days before Biogen concluded there was a problem with Tysabri and told the FDA. But it was seven days after the company was alerted there might be a problem. The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to know: What did he know, and when did he know it? Investigators are already shining the lamp on Thomas Bucknum, the company's former general counsel, who dumped stock for a $1.9 million profit on Feb. 18, the day Biogen warned the FDA of a problem. Bucknum has since left the company, without getting severance, and hired former SEC Boston boss Juan Marcelino to represent him. He denies any wrongdoing. There is at the moment no reason to conclude Pangia is guilty of any malfeasance. But Pangia's trade did not follow earlier notification, stripping him of the first line of legal defense. Two other executives, including Chairman Bill Rastetter, also sold stock that week, but they had put the trades in the pipeline a long time in advance. Pangia, who is also a partner at financial firm Ivy Capital, could not be reached last night for comment. Pangia has an intriguing past that has attracted the eye of investigators. His 20-year career as an investment banker included two years at junk bond shop Drexel Burnham Lambert in 1986-87. Remember Drexel? Think Michael Milken. He was Drexel's ``junk bond king,'' later sent to prison for stock manipulation and other crimes. Pangia was Drexel's managing director of investment banking when Milken was riding high. ``It doesn't mean he's guilty of anything,'' stressed one source familiar with the investigation into Biogen. ``There were plenty of good people at Drexel, even then. But it's interesting, isn't it?'' Milken ex-exec trades set off alarms: Biogen Idec probe grows [continued from previous page] Biogen Idec stock has collapsed to just $38.10 from $67 since the company revealed the problems with Tysabri. Two patients developed a rare condition, and one has since died. The drug, which analysts expected to achieve $3 billion in annual sales, has been pulled from the market pending further study. Executives and directors made $32 million cashing in stock and options over the months when the going was good. The sales, which were perfectly legal, were made between August last year and last month. During that time the stock price was usually over $65 as investors anticipated success from Tysabri's launch