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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: WTDEC who wrote (16493)	3/4/1998 9:03:00 PM
From: Hippieslayer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

I agree is isn't far fetched, but I would rather see large instituitions start to build of a "lgnd" reserve than see individual investors buy. Here are some interesting links: "Why buy lgnd when you should really buy Soy bean futures: eurekalert.org:80/releases/usc-sosacreft.html No mention of lgnd ( which should have been considering who is quoted has been a long supporter of lgnd) in this article but more possible good news for biotechs in general Here's the article: New Products Could Make This a Good Year for Biotech By TOM PETRUNO [A]s a group, biotechnology stocks have mostly been treading water for the last two years. But many of the industry's fans insist that 1998 will be a breakout RELATED year for the business and for the shares. ------------- "We are convinced that 1998 will be an excellent AP year for biotech stocks," said Jim McCamant, writing in BUSINESS his biweekly Medical Technology Stock Letter ($320 per year; [510] 843-1857) in Berkeley. BUSINESS Two months into the year, however, biotech WIRE investors still are waiting--at least judging by the performance of the American Stock Exchange biotech CURRENT index, which tracks 15 stocks, including Amgen Inc. ( [Current Quote] QUOTES [Company Capsule] ), Cephalon Inc. ( [Current Quote] [Company Capsule] ) and Chiron Corp. ( [Current Quote] COMPANY [Company Capsule] ) CAPSULES The Amex index closed at 158.07 on Monday, which leaves it down 2.7% year-to-date. The Nasdaq composite GLOSSARY index, by contrast, has soared 12% so far this year, lifted by big gains in major computer-related stocks. The glory days for biotech investors were in 1991, when the Amex index tripled, fueled in part by the success of Thousand Oaks-based Amgen and other industry leaders. But the stocks, as a group, then went into a long decline as numerous expected drug breakthroughs failed to materialize in the early 1990s. The industry surged anew in 1995, but since then has again badly trailed the return of the stock market overall. * * * Why should that change in 1998? Alex To, analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities in New York, sees this year as a "turning point" for the biotech business. If all goes well, To says, Wall Street will see "a wave of new product introductions" from the industry in 1998. "Potentially, over 20 new biotech products could hit the market in the next 12 to 18 months," the analyst said in a recent report to clients. "To put this in historical perspective, this is about the sum total of all biotech products developed by the industry in its 25 years of existence. "In other words, the biotech industry is acquiring critical mass," To says. The big question, of course, is whether all or even most of those proposed new products will make it through the Food and Drug Administration approval process. For investors who want to bet that the surprises will be positive rather than negative, McCamant likes such stocks as Isis Corp. (ticker symbol: ISIP), which is developing a drug to treat retinitis; ImClone Systems (IMCL), which is testing cancer-treatment drugs; Somatogen (SMTG) and Agouron Pharmaceuticals (AGPH). DLJ's To has been recommending such stocks as Chiron (CHIR), AgriBioTech Inc. ( [Current Quote] [Company Capsule] ) (ABTX) and Biogen Inc. ( [Current Quote] [Company Capsule] ) (BGEN). * * * What about Amgen (AMGN), which has long been making big profits while most biotech firms still are bleeding red ink? In a recent report, Prudential Securities analyst Caroline Copithorne warned that sales of both of the company's drugs, anti-anemia treatment Epogen and white-blood-cell stimulator Neupogen, fell short of expectations in the fourth quarter. The rap on Amgen has long been that demand for Epogen and Neupogen is tapering off and that the company's new-product pipeline simply doesn't have enough in it. Copithorne believes that "the company's next big product may be almost two years away." Those worries have helped pull Amgen stock, now $52.41 on Nasdaq, down 25% from its 52-week high of $69.56. And finally, here's link about a new breast cancer drug: msnbc.com:80/news/147598.asp