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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 (1027)	11/11/1998 6:45:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

(Dow Jones) Study Finds Cholesterol Drugs May Help Some More Than Angioplasty November 11, 1998 3:49 PM By Raymond Hennessey, Staff Reporter DALLAS -(Dow Jones)- Some patients who are currently being treated with balloon angioplasty for their stable coronary artery disease may benefit more from aggressive drug treatment to reduce cholesterol, according to a study released Wednesday. The trial showed that, 18 months after the patients first reported symptoms, 87% of people given a high dosage of the drug Lipitor didn't need angioplasty or a bypass, or have a heart attack or die, said Dr. Bertram Pitt, professor of medicine at the University of Michigan. Lipitor is marketed jointly by Warner-Lambert Co. (WLA) and Pfizer Inc. (PFE). It belongs to a heavily competitive class of drugs known as "statins" which have been shown to dramatically reduce cholesterol. There was also a "borderline significant" reduction in the amount of time that the patients who later received surgical treatment needed it. Of the 350 people studied, all had been referred to surgeons for angioplasty. But Pitt instead treated some with 80 milligrams of Lipitor. Pitt said the study indicates that it may be more cost effective to give patients with only one or two instances of blood vessel disease an aggressive dose of Lipitor or another of the statin family of cholesterol-lowering drugs, instead of an angioplasty. But, that will take a philosophical shift on the part of interventional cardiologists who perform the angioplasties, Pitt said. For one thing, doctors tend to see these patients "and think they're going to fall over tomorrow" with their artery disease, Pitt said. But, in some cases, it will be cheaper and possbily more effective to use a drug therapy, he said. And interventional cardiologists will also have to make the lowering of cholesterol higher on their list of priorities. But drug treatment isn't right for all patients, with Pitt estimating that it would be effective in only about 20% to 25% of heart patients. "If you need an angioplasty, you should get one," he said. Drug therapy to raise the levels of HDL, or the so-called good cholesterol, may also help a subset of patients who have unusually low levels of both HDL and the LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, said Dr. Hanna Rubins, chief of general internal medicine at the V.A. Medical Center in Minneapolis. Using the generic gemfibrozil, which is sold by Parke Davis under the brand Lopid, on 2,500 men with heart disease, Rubins found there were 22% fewer heart attacks and 26% fewer strokes compared with men who didn't take the drug. The research shows that gemfibrozil is as effective for patients with low levels of good cholesterol as statins are for patients with high levels of the bad form, Rubins said. Like Pitt, Rubins said her data shows that some doctors may be inappropriately treating their patients and not paying enough attention to lowering cholesterol. -Raymond Hennessey; 201-938-5240; raymond.hennessey@cor.dowjones.com Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. smartmoney.com

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1027)	11/11/1998 6:53:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

Monsanto to Raise Up to $5 Bln to Integrate Purchases (Update1) Bloomberg News November 11, 1998, 6:03 p.m. ET Monsanto to Raise Up to $5 Bln to Integrate Purchases (Update1) (Adds details of acquisitions.) St. Louis, Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Monsanto Co., whose products range from arthritis drugs to weed killers, said it plans to raise as much as $5 billion to complete pending acquisitions, integrate others and introduce new drug and agricultural products. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, said it will sell about $1 billion in stock, about $2.5 billion in long-term debt and $500 million of adjustable conversion-rate equity security units. The company expects to raise an additional $1 billion from the sale of business units that don't relate to its main drug, agricultural or nutrition businesses. It also said it would cut up to 1,000 jobs. The moves follow the break-up of Monsanto's proposed merger with American Home Products Corp. Monsanto had been banking on AHP to help it integrate about $8 billion in seed and technology acquisitions. Some, including its purchase of Delta & Pine Land Co. and DeKalb Genetics Corp. have yet to be completed. ''Obviously they've decided to do this alone and we knew there'd be some concern about a drain on their resources because of acquisitions,'' said Tom Brakel, an analyst at Mehta Partners. ''Management is counting on these measures to tide them over till they launch Celebrex.'' Celebrex is an arthritis drug developed by Monsanto's Searle pharmaceutical unit that it hopes to introduce by early 1999. Analysts say the drug could be a blockbuster in the roughly $8 billion a year arthritis painkiller market. The speed with which Monsanto has put together a financing package surprised some analysts. ''I got the impression they were going to do this in 1999,'' Brakel said. Smaller Acquisitions Monsanto said it does not expect to make any more major acquisitions, though it could make some smaller ones -- of less than $20 million each -- to acquire seed companies in some areas of the world where it doesn't have as much access as it would like, said Gary Crittenden, the company's chief financial officer. Crittenden said the financing package should support the company until it brings its new products onto the market. He said the company will issue a prospectus for the public stock offering right away, and begin an investor roadshow tomorrow. ''What we have done with this is to resolve any issues related to the financing of our acquisitions,'' said Crittenden. The company said the restructuring will include cutting between 700 and 1,000 jobs, some of which will be at executive levels, to reduce its administrative costs by about 20 percent in 1999. Crittenden declined to say specifically which businesses it will sell. In general, he said they would be all those which didn't fit into its life sciences business, which it defines as agricultural biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and nutrition. Monsanto expects to take a pretax restructuring charge of $400 million to $600 million to implement its plans. It will take the charge in the fourth quarter of 1998. Monsanto recently took out a $2 billion revolving credit loan to help it complete its proposed acquisition of DeKalb Genetics Corp. Crittenden said the company hopes its new financing package means it won't have to draw on its loans. --Toni Clarke in the Chicago newsroom (312) 692-3725/gfh news.com