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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (336)	6/16/1998 8:44:00 PM
From: erin4	Respond to of 1722

Re Aetna Its a managed COST system not a managed CARE system. The American policy holder gets taken advantage of again by the billion dollar insurance companies.

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (336)	6/16/1998 11:09:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1722

Merck to be paid well for Astra break-up Tuesday June 16, 5:33 pm Eastern Time NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - Merck & Co. Inc. would come out a winner in a break-up of, or change in, its joint venture with Astra Ab (ASTRa.ST) because Astra needs a divorce more than Merck does, analysts said. ''Whatever happens, it will be very favorable to Merck. This is something they don't have to do, so they won't go cheap on this,'' said Cynthia Beach, an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison. Earlier this month, Astra said it was in talks to buy Merck's interest in their joint venture, Astra Merck Inc. Merck confirmed it was in talks with Astra to ''restructure'' the venture. The 50-50 venture has exclusive rights to develop and market Astra drugs in the United States, including Prilosec, Astra's ulcer medication that was the top selling drug in the U.S. in 1997. Hemant Shah, an analyst with HKS & Co, agreed that Merck would be paid well if the venture is dissolved. Shah noted that cash proceeds could be used for a share repurchase program or to expand research and development. ''It would provide Merck with an enormous amount of cash,'' Shah said. ''A good chunk of that could be used to buy back stock or expand R&D ''I'm not sure they would make a major acquisition with the cash, because they make major acquisitions with stock,'' he added. Shah said it is possible that Merck could continue to have an ownership interest in the joint venture, but that it is most likely that the restructuring would involve a complete buyout of Merck's stake. ''Astra needs to have complete control over its U.S. operations for it to find a merger partner ... if Merck owns a noncontrolling interest, what's in it for Merck?'' he said. Merck stock traded at 124-11/16, unchanged from Monday's close. Astra stock closed down 5 Swedish crowns to 159.