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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 (1148)	11/25/1998 2:43:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

J&J Shares Fall After Analysts Cut 1999 Estimates, FDA Rejects New Drugs Bloomberg News November 25, 1998, 1:00 p.m. ET J&J Falls on '99 Estimate Cuts, New-Product Concerns (Update2) (Updates shares) New Brunswick, New Jersey, Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson, the world's largest maker of medical devices, indicated its 1999 profit would be less than the $3.00 it estimated earlier, sending its shares down as much as 4.1 percent. J&J fell 2 9/16 to 82 11/16 at midday, after trading as low as 81 3/4. The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company has fallen from a record high of 89 on Friday to become the biggest loser today among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. J&J is finding it more difficult to keep boosting profit by 10 percent or more a quarter as its sales growth slows, said Charlene Lu, an analyst with Prudential Securities. ''It's pretty amazing that they've done as much as they have,'' said Lu, who has a ''hold'' on J&J. With setbacks in bringing its cholesterol-reducing margarine to market, a slowdown in new-product research and expenses stemming from its $3.5 billion acquisition of orthopedics maker DePuy Inc., Johnson & Johnson will have to struggle to boost 1999 profit at least 10 percent, Lu said. Now, J&J is guiding analysts to lower their 1999 estimates, which the company recently had affirmed at $3 a share, Lu said. She cut her 1999 estimate to $2.95 a share from $3.00. Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette analyst Kent Blair lowered his 1999 estimate to $2.96 from $3.00. The company declined to confirm the new earnings forecasts or comment further. J&J, whose products include Band-Aids, artificial knees and birth-control pills, had been expected to earn $3 a share in 1999, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. New Product Woes The company has struggled this year in its efforts to bring new products to market. J&J is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to try to win permission to introduce a cholesterol-reducing margarine Benecol, which it licensed from Finland's Raisio Group. This week, the FDA rejected a diabetes drug J&J was working on with Ergo Science Corp. These setbacks highlighted J&J's weaknesses in drug research, analysts said. ''It just brings it back in front of people,'' said Michael Weinstein, an analyst with J.P. Morgan, who has a ''market perform'' rating on the company. --Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016 /mfr

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1148)	11/25/1998 2:50:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Warner-Lambert's Cognex Alzheimer Benefit Limited, Study Says Bloomberg News November 24, 1998, 5:12 p.m. ET Warner-Lambert's Cognex Alzheimer Benefit Limited, Study Says Chicago, Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Warner-Lambert Co.'s Cognex, the first drug widely sold for Alzheimer's disease, can slow mental deterioration for about three months, although it doesn't significantly affect behavior problems or improve independence, a new study shows. The relevance of Cognex's benefits, and perhaps other drugs like it, remain controversial, with longer-term studies involving many more patients urgently needed, the researchers said. About one in 20 people older than 65 have some degree of Alzheimer's disease, a progressive condition in which nerve cells in the brain deteriorate causing memory loss, disorientation, and death. Experts have long questioned the amount of benefit from Cognex, which slows the breakdown of a brain chemical that plays an important role in memory and cognition and is deficient in Alzheimer's patients. Although approved in the U.S. in 1993, several other countries refused to allow it on the market. Dr. Nawab Qizilbash, formerly from the University of Oxford in England and now an employee of SmithKline Beecham Plc, and his colleagues reviewed data from 12 clinical trials of Cognex in 1,284 patients. Patients taking Cognex were about 50 percent more likely to improve than those on placebo, with men more likely to benefit than women, the researchers found. However, about one in every five patients started on the drug in clinical trials dropped out because of side effects, including liver problems, the researchers said. The study appears in tomorrow's Journal of the American Medical Association. While the study wasn't directly supported by Warner-Lambert, several researchers received funding or grants from the company's Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals unit. Warner-Lambert shares fell 2 7/8 to 78 3/8 today. Forest Laboratories Inc. earlier this month said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration turned down its marketing application for Synapton, in the same drug class as Cognex for treating Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, SmithKline Beecham dropped its Alzheimer's drug Memric from late-stage development last spring, while Bayer AG, Hoechst AG, and Novartis AG also experienced recent setbacks with their treatments. --Michelle Fay Cortez in Ithaca, New York (607) 272-1174,