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Biotech / Medical : ATIS is on the move! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bruce Long who wrote (1291)	1/16/1998 6:13:00 AM
From: Harry D. Kramer	Respond to of 2205

Bruce, I still don't have an opinion on S&N. I simply don't have enough information about the company, and to tell you the truth, it's definitely not easy to get one. Judged by US standards the company can be called secretive. I had the chance to speak to an investment banker from London, last week. And although he wasn't a biotech/healthcare specialist, he did know a few things about the company. He said that S&N is not highly regarded in the investment community, not because they are a bad medtech company, but because management hasn't been able to put this company on a profitable growth path so far; and probably will never be. They are now in the end phase of a major refocusing program that has made the company's future highly dependent on Dermagraft's success. Apart from the ATIS collaboration they have bought several small-to-mid-size companies in the last two years. It is, however, a fact that S&N has a history of doing bad deals and buying companies which they actually try to get rid of a few years later. Therefore, I don't like the idea that management is once again looking outside the own four walls to turn this company around. But you can also say it's part of the big master plan to focus on only a few medtech niches and try to become a worldwide leader there, right??? All in all, S&N seems to have the image of being stodgy, low-growth and not profit-oriented. But don't forget, this picture of S&N is based mainly on second-hand information. I don't have a long enough history of following this company to really come up with my own research. Sorry. Would I be short ATIS, I would be nervous. But maybe I am wrong. No, I have not heard of any specific, scientifically-based argument that says the product is crap. I think, apart from the technical crowd (which seems to be big in ATIS' case), fundamentally oriented shorts base their decision on the combination of high market-cap and uncertainty of commercial success of Dermagraft. But that's not new. What, however, seems to be important, is the fact, that most of them are not short, because they think the FDA panel will reject Dermagraft, but because of the developments after that. Therefore they don't have to cover right now. No short squeeze to be expected. Regards, Harry