Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: SteveR who wrote (750)	12/10/1998 2:11:00 PM
From: jopawa	Respond to of 2539

MRK is without a doubt a fabulous company, but with a market value of 175 bil it is certainly not undiscovered. MTC has a market cap of 25 bil, with the best years yet to come with all of it's units, not the least of which is their ag business. MTC has a much better upside to it than MRK in my opinion, as long as they execute their plan properly. John

To: SteveR who wrote (750)	12/10/1998 2:12:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2539

Steve, I guess that's the error of the "major New York healthcare investor", Scolnick said "I have no reluctance to do [head-to-head] trials having seen their data." Even if they want to do it, they'll have to wait until Celebrex is approved by the FDA. Anther point of interest is the size of the clinical trials. My understanding from past news articles: 13,000 patients for Celebrex, 9000 for Vioxx. From the article: <But Scolnick emphasized that Merck has extensive data documenting its drug's effectiveness in treating pain in different populations, while *Celebrex has more limited data.* And in one major trial of Vioxx, the drug's safety profile showed statistical equivalence to placebo, Scolnick said. *Monsanto, which did fewer and smaller trials in fewer patient populations than Merck,* has shown only that there is no statistical difference between Celebrex and a placebo.> Anthony