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Biotech / Medical : VVUS: VIVUS INC. (NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anaxagoras who wrote (2180)	11/7/1997 9:52:00 AM
From: Anaxagoras	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 23519

Here you go, Bears- something to chew on. This should send it down some more. I wil then buy, though. :-) From today's Herb Greenberg column. ~~~~ <<From the FYI file: Menlo Park-based Vivus recently (and very quietly) filed a report with the FDA, disclosing that a 79- year old patient suffered a heart attack and died while using its drug to treat impotence. It's believed to be the first death report ever filed by Vivus, whose stock ranks among the Bay Area's most volatile. Chief Financial Officer Dave Yntema initially declined comment on the basis that he doesn't believe I've treated Vivus fairly. He then said the patient in question is just one of a half a million who have used Vivus' impotence treatment over the past four years. He says the patient had suffered a stroke a month before dying, but hadn't told his doctor (presumably, his urologist). Vivus' stock, meanwhile, has lost 43 percent of its value in the past few weeks, closing yesterday at $23.13. The biggest seller is believed to be Vinik Asset management (of Fidelity's Jeffrey Vinik fame), which recently filed that it sliced its stake in the company to 4.8 percent from 7.2 percent. Some investors are concerned that a new anti-impotence pill from Pfizer could steal market share from Vivus, whose product must be injected through a tiny catheter directly into the penis. >> Anaxagoras