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

To: twt who wrote (470)	11/9/1998 11:42:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

Novartis Loses Bid for $194 Mln in Patent Suit With Monsanto Bloomberg News November 9, 1998, 10:58 a.m. ET Novartis Loses Bid for $194 Mln in Patent Suit With Monsanto Wilmington, Delaware, Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Novartis AG, the world's largest agricultural products company, lost a bid to collect $194 million from Monsanto Co. and DeKalb Genetics Corp. when a jury decided Novartis' corn seed patent was invalid. After three hours of deliberation following a two-week trial, a federal jury of five women and four men in Wilmington, Delaware today also said Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis failed to prove that Monsanto or DeKalb infringed on claims of the patent, filed in 1987 and awarded last year. The verdict was a significant victory for St. Louis-based Monsanto and Illinois-based DeKalb, which claimed that their scientists invented the technology for inserting a modified Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene into corn plants to produce a protein that kills corn-eating insects. The market for such bioengineered crops could reach $20 billion in the next decade, analysts say. ''We're extremely pleased with the outcome. This reaffirms that we are the pioneers with DeKalb in this form of biotechnology,'' said Monsanto lawyer David Snively. Novartis lawyers would not immediately comment. Novartis sued Monsanto and DeKalb in 1997, claiming its two rivals should pay up to $194 million in lost sales and royalties because they allegedly used Novartis' patented process for making the corn seed. Shares of Novartis fell 3 francs to 2,480 in Zurich. American depositary receipts of Novartis rose 3/4 to 91 when last traded Friday. Monsanto fell 1/16 to 39 7/8 in morning trading today. DeKalb shares rose 1/4 to 91 1/8. --Phil Milford in Wilmington, Delaware (302) 984-3373, through

To: twt who wrote (470)	11/9/1998 1:03:00 PM
From: Biomaven	Respond to of 2539

twt, Infliximab (Remicade) is made by Centocor. While I think it will do well for CNTO, I doubt it will have much impact on Celebrex. Remicade, like Enbrel, is for patients with serious disease, and both will cost several thousand a year and are administered by infusion and injection respectively. By contrast, Celebrex is a pill that will be most useful for milder disease. I haven't seen any indication that it is more potent than existing NSAIDS like Naprosyn, just much safer in that you don't get ulcers with long term use. Peter

To: twt who wrote (470)	11/9/1998 1:18:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

twt, the drug is infliximab, Centocor's drug. See the CNTO thread for a Bloomberg article on this piece of news. CNTO has a strong buy today from Morgan Stanley. It is in a different class of drug from Cox-2 inhibitors.

To: twt who wrote (470)	11/9/1998 6:23:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

twt, I'm not too concerned about MTC's short term price movement. Some think that MTC is over-valued based on it's present and next year's earnings. If AHP was willing to give MTC a good premium, then obviously MTC was worth more than what it's trading now. MTC is a bit like WLA two years ago, before Lipitor was approved. Similar to Lipitor's turning WLA's fortunes around, Celebrex would be a cash cow for MTC and MTC's stock price would move once we get the FDA advisory panel's positive recommendation in December. MTC is presenting papers at the American College of Rheumatology meeting tomorrow. There should be intense media attention about Cox-2 inhibitors.