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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 (3366)	6/9/1998 1:12:00 AM
From: Solid	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

Don't know if this was covered earlier, but good news may be forth coming soon. More then 'just' Viagra. FYI- (UPDATE) Boston Scientific May Be Near Deal To Buy Pfizer's Schneider Unit Dow Jones Online News, Monday, June 08, 1998 at 17:29 By Louis Hau, Staff Writer NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Speculation is mounting that Pfizer Inc. is near a deal to sell its cardiovascular-device subsidiary, Schneider Worldwide, to Boston Scientific Corp. for $2 billion to $2.2 billion, market sources said Monday. The latest development to gear up the rumor mill is Boston Scientific's (BSX) decision to cancel its scheduled appearance Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Healthcare Conference in Napa Valley, Calif. However, Chief Financial Officer Larry Best, who was to attend the Goldman conference, insisted his absence "has nothing to do with any acquisitions." Best said he is chairing an in-house task force on supply-chain management and that consultants advising the task force were only available on Wednesday. He said he will return to the company's Natick, Mass., headquarters after attending the Piper Jaffray Investor Conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday. He declined to comment on whether Boston Scientific had a bid on the table for Schneider. A Pfizer spokesman also declined to comment, saying that the company is still exploring its strategic options for the subsidiary. Analysts and other market sources believe Pfizer (PFE) could make an announcement on Schneider as early as this week. Arterial Vascular Engineering Inc. (AVEI) is also believed to be a leading contender for Schneider. Arterial Vascular officials weren't available for comment. Boston Scientific's expected bid is higher than what earlier offers were believed to have been, which is viewed as a reflection of Chairman and Chief Executive Pete Nicholas's determination to buy Schneider, sources said. Schneider's primary appeal to Boston Scientific lies in its strong patent portfolio in nylon angioplasty balloons and "rapid-exchange" catheters. Rapid-exchange, or single-operator-exchange, catheters make switching angioplasty balloons easier than traditional over-the-wire catheters. In a stent procedure, doctors must first remove the balloon that performed the angioplasty before they can go back in with another balloon to position the stent. They will also occasionally switch a balloon during an angioplasty if a different size is needed.