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

To: Harold Engstrom who wrote (701)	8/5/1998 10:12:00 PM
From: JEB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1686

LOL...True! I originally purchased this stock for 7.50 back in October of 1986. My how it has grown! JEB

To: Harold Engstrom who wrote (701)	8/21/1998 6:42:00 PM
From: Hong-Lee Yu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1686

Biogen follower, Positive comments from analysts. Avonex is on uptrend even in the summer time. NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Shares of Biogen Inc (BGEN - news) continued to rebound Wednesday from sharp declines seen earlier this month, spurred by favorable trends for the company's multiple sclerosis drug, Avonex, analysts said. Biogen, whose stock price jumped 4-1/4 on Tuesday, was up another 3-5/16 to 58-3/16 in afternoon trade. Hambrecht & Quist analyst Richard van den Broek noted that Biogen shares had slumped 14 percent in recent weeks, drifting to 50-5/8 on August 17 from an all-time high of 59-1/8 seen on July 30. But he said shares of the Cambridge, Mass., biotech company were rallying in large part because of new IMS Health data showing new U.S. weekly prescriptions of Avonex hit 1,147 in the week ending August 7, about 10 percent higher than any previous week. In addition, he said data released by the market research firm showed total U.S. prescriptions written for Avonex that week were at an all-time high of 4,572. ''Avonex prescriptions are definitely on a significant uptrend,'' van den Broek said, adding they had been accelerating since favorable reports about the drug were given at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology held in Minneapolis in May. ''The stock is playing a little catch up and is nearing my price target of $59,'' said Raymond James analyst Mary Ann Gray, who continues to rate the stock ''accumulate.'' Mark Augustine, a biotech analyst for SG Cowen Securities Corp, said Biogen had been hurt in recent weeks by indications Immunex Corp (IMNX - news) might soon release new favorable data about its rival drug for multiple sclerosis, Novantrone. ''Some people got scared off and sold off Biogen,'' Augustine said. But he speculated some investors were buying back into Biogen after reviewing safety data showing Novantrone side effects such as nausea and bone marrow suppression. Augustine said Avonex had worldwide sales of $240 million in 1997 and could see sales climb to $355 million this year. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------