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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (2751)	5/22/1998 2:56:00 PM
From: Lazlo Pierce	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

from briefing.com ************** 14:30 ET **** PFIZER INC. (PFE) 105 11/16 -3 1/2. The success this pharmaceutical company had enjoyed from its Viagra drug was too good to last and in the last two days, the excitement associated with the new male impotency drug has begun to wane. For the most part, the drug continues to perform well, with more than one million users having safely used the drug. But in the last two days, negative side effects have arisen. Yesterday, the company cautioned doctors not to prescribed the Viagra drug to heart patients that may be using nitroglycerin because the combined drugs can cause large and sudden drops in blood pressure, which is lethal. Today, the company disclosed the it had notified the FDA that the drug was linked to six deaths. The recent events have caused the stock to retreat by more than 6%, although after much of the hype wore off, the stock had already retreated from a high of 121 3/4 reached after Viagra received wide publicity. Of course, there is no proof that Viagra caused these deaths; both the FDA and PFE are investigating. But it raises questions whether the drug is safe for all users. Obviously, if patients already have a heart condition, undue excitement or arousal can be hazardous to anyone's health. After all, this is impotency drug, not heart medication. All this means is that the price drop experienced recently is probably overdone, although it seems that many investors were looking to exit the stock after a significant rise in price since last summer. While the stock remains trading at hefty multiples in excess of 42 and 51 times projected 1998 and 1999 earnings, respectively, the drop in price is probably temporary. The investigations into the cause of the deaths will probably show that it was caused by over exertion and not Viagra.