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Biotech / Medical : Eli Lilly -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (75)	2/17/1998 5:21:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 643

February 17, 1998 Lilly's Stock Falls After Analysts Report Evista Orders Disappoint By CHARLENE OLDHAM Dow Jones Newswires Shares of Eli Lilly & Co. fell Tuesday after market-research firm IMS America Ltd. reported disappointing new sales numbers for the company's osteoporosis compound, Evista. At the close of composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Lilly's stock fell $3.125, or 5%, to $60.5625, with 11.59 million shares changing hands, compared with average daily volume of 2.7 million. In the fifth week since the drug's launch, new prescriptions fell below most analysts' expectations and comparable figures for Merck & Co.'s Fosamax, the leading osteoporosis drug on the market, according to Charles Engelberg, industry analyst for AmeriCal Securities. Mr. Engelberg said he heard from another analyst that IMS America, a pharmaceuticals market-research firm, reported 4,781 new Evista prescription orders for last week. "Fosamax had three times as many" prescriptions at this point, he said. An Eli Lilly spokesman couldn't immediately confirm the number of new prescriptions reported. The spokesman also said it was company policy not to comment on stock activity. Whatever the number, Mr. Engelberg said he isn't surprised it fell below many analysts' estimates. "We have a sell on the stock because we don't think Evista can possibly achieve analysts' expectations," he said. More than 35 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, so some analysts believe Evista could be a $1 billion drug. The stock is trading lower because Evista sales will be particularly important for Lilly after the main patent on its antidepressant Prozac expires in early 2001, Mr. Engelberg said. Prozac accounted for 43% of Lilly's U.S. drug sales in 1996.