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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 (4835)	8/10/1998 4:15:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

Merck, other drug stocks regain some lost ground Monday August 10, 3:21 pm Eastern Time NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Shares of most major U.S. drug makers on Monday regained some ground lost in recent weeks, outpacing the broad market amid renewed confidence the group is poised to continue delivering strong earnings growth, analysts said. The American Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical Index, which includes 11 of the largest U.S. drug companies and a handful of European drug makers, was up 1.43 percent in afternoon trade. That contrasts with a 0.32 percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 0.21 percent advance in the Standard and Poor's 500 Index. Merck & Co. (MRK - news), whose shares were battered July 21 after posting disappointing second-quarter earnings, rose 3-11/16 to 127-11/16 in afternoon trade despite the absence of any major company or product news, analysts said. Other gainers included Warner-Lambert Co. (WLA - news), rising 2-3/8 to 74-1/8; Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP - news), jumping 2 to 95; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY - news), up 1-3/8 to 109-1/2; and Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY - news), edging up 11/16 to 68-7/8. Running against the trend were American Home Products Co. (AHP - news), off 5/16 to 51-1/8, and Pharmacia & Upjohn (PNU - news), which slipped 1/2 to 45-9/16 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange. ''Merck got beaten up by its second quarter earnings report, and it's just playing a little catch-up today,'' said Edward Froelich, a drug analyst for the Pershing Division of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette. Froelich noted that Merck was still trading well below its all-time high of 138-5/8 set July 16, five days before the company reported second quarter diluted per share earnings of $1.07 -- one cent below Wall Street expectations. Merck's July 21 sell-off -- falling 10, or 7 percent -- was aggravated by the company's slightly diminished earnings guidance for 1998. Froelich noted that other large U.S. drug companies were also way off their highs for the year, having fallen in recent weeks in sympathy with Merck and declines in the broad market. Schering-Plough, for instance, remains 10 percent off its all-time high of 105-1/2 set July 16, while Warner-Lambert's share price is almost 11 percent below its high of 83-1/8 seen July 20. And Pfizer Inc. (PFE - news), which was up 1 to 104-1/2 in afternoon activity, is 11 percent below its all-time high of 118-11/16 reached July 13. ''There may be an impression by investors and mutual funds that the drug group indeed is one of the better performing sectors and a safer place to be in case we go into a recession or have other economic problems,'' Froelich said. ABN-AMRO drug analyst Mario Corso said IMS Health data showed 18,832 new U.S. prescriptions were written for Merck's asthma drug Singulair in the week ending July 31, increasing its market share to 54.2 percent from 53.1 percent in the leukotriene antagonist-class of asthma drugs. Singulair, whose chemical name is montelukast sodium, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February. Some analysts are predicting it could have annual sales of $500 million within several years. Corso said fresh data from IMS, a market research firm, showed improving but still-disappointing sales of Merck baldness drug Propecia (finasteride), which received FDA approval last December. Corso said new prescriptions rose to 10,244 in the week ended July 31, the first week it has topped 10,000 since the week of May 22. He attributed the sales increase to Merck's direct-to-consumer advertising campaign for Propecia. But Corso added that he expected Propecia to generate sales of $100 million at best in 1998 -- far short of the $300 million to $400 million some analysts had forecast for Propecia in its first year on the market. biz.yahoo.com