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

To: Harold Engstrom who wrote (852)	1/15/1999 12:21:00 PM
From: William Partmann	Respond to of 1686

Warburg Dillon Read upgrades to Buy

To: Harold Engstrom who wrote (852)	1/15/1999 12:48:00 PM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Respond to of 1686

>Had to get help on the latin... harold. yeah, it's the toolie (read: engineer) in me. pocket-protector profs always write it after a proof. "QED": which was to be demonstrated. i figured it apropos given the 'pre-annoucement.' btw, is the CC replay still available? if so, would you mind posting the number and registration code? if my not-so-lucid memory remains lucid, i don't recall it cited here. thanks much, -chris. another news item ... ----- Research shows brain atrophies early in MS-Biogen January 14, 1999 10:28 PM By Leslie Gevirtz BOSTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The brains of multiple sclerosis patients atrophy "very early" in the course of the disease, research to be published later this year will show, said executives at the company that makes the leading drug to fight the neurological disorder. Executives of Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen Inc. (BGEN), maker of Avonex, used to treat relapsing forms of MS, made the remarks during a Thursday conference call with analysts after releasing the biotech firm's fourth-quarter and year-end earnings. Citing research to be published sometime later this year by Dr. Richard Rudick of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Biogen Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Vincent said the neurologist had determined "that actually brain atrophy or brain shrinkage occurs very early in the course of the disease." He said the research "will be very important. Also to communicate directly to both patients and physicians because everybody I think can appreciate it's better if their brain does not shrink." Dr. Rudick could not be reached for comment. Some one million people in the developed world suffer from the neurological illness that strips away the tissue covering the brain's nerve fibers. The disease tends to strike mostly women between the ages of 30 and 50 and is most commonly found in Canada, the United States, South America and Europe. In 1998, more than 55,000 MS patients were taking Avonex -- an increase of 60 percent over the previous year, Biogen said and Vincent hopes to have 100,000 MS patients on the drug "some time in the next several years." The company reported record sales and net income for the year just ending. Total Avonex sales in 1998 were $394 million compared to $239.9 million a year earlier. Biogen reported fourth quarter earning per share diluted of $0.54, which met First Call consensus estimates. The company earned $0.42 per diluted share in the year ago period. Year earnings rose to $1.80 a diluted share from $1.17. The company credited the rise in earnings to the increase in the number of MS patients in the United States and Europe taking the once a week injectable drug. Biogen stock closed at $90.25, off $1.75 on volume of more than 2.3 mln shares. Earnings were reported after the close. The stock lost another 25 cents in after-hours trading. Average trading volume for the company's stock is about 1.2 mln.

To: Harold Engstrom who wrote (852)	1/15/1999 1:18:00 PM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1686

harold, et al. according to CNBC (http://www.cnbc.com/guests), jim vincent is scheduled to appear during "power lunch" today (after 12p EST). -chris.

To: Harold Engstrom who wrote (852)	1/19/1999 6:52:00 PM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1686

harold. (un)fortunately, i'm in new employee orientation all this week and hence, away from the 'net, CNBC, and the pulse of the market. while i don't want to sound myopically alarmist (er, alarmingly myopic...?), might this account for today's sell off in an up market? -chris. ----- Ares-Serono 4th-Qtr Sales Rise 21.3% on New Drugs Geneva, Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ares-Serono SA, the world's No. 1 maker of infertility drugs, said fourth-quarter sales rose 21.3 percent, more than expected, boosted by new drugs such as multiple-sclerosis treatment Rebif. The maker of fertility drug Gonal-F said fourth-quarter sales climbed to $269.9 million. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News expected the company to report sales of $265.7 million. The Geneva-based company will release earnings on March 9. Demand for Rebif and Serostim, a treatment that helps patients fight the wasting syndrome associated with AIDS, helped fuel the year's strongest quarterly sales gain. The better-than- expected performance suggests the company's efforts to diversify are paying off as competition heats up in the $850 million infertility market, analysts said. ''It's an endorsement of their strategy,'' said Meinrad Gyr, an analyst at Zuercher Kantonalbank. ''Demand for their new products more than offset lower revenue for fertility drugs.'' By comparison, sales fell 8.6 percent in the first quarter, and rose 7.3 percent and 4.3 percent in the second and third quarters, respectively. Sales of fertility drugs such as Metrodin and Gonal-F, the company's best-selling drug, rose 5.2 percent to $158.6 million in the fourth quarter. Rebif sales doubled, Ares said, without giving numbers for the quarter. High Hopes for Rebif For all of 1998, sales rose 6.3 percent to $918 million -- also higher than the $914.2 million analysts expected. Serostim sales rose 127 percent to $88.2 million last year. Sales of Rebif, which was introduced in Europe, Latin America and Canada to treat multiple sclerosis, almost trebled to $44.3 million. Sales of fertility drugs fell 6.6 percent to $539.1 million, even as those of Gonal-F more than doubled to $243.8 million, Ares said. ''Our overall sales performance demonstrates that we will make further progress in 1999,'' Chief Executive Ernesto Bertarelli said in a statement. ''Our plans for Rebif are on schedule, with its successful rollout across Europe.'' Analysts say Rebif could become a blockbuster if the company is allowed to sell it in the U.S. as well as Europe and Canada. Ares needs to overcome a U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruling that gives rivals Biogen Inc.'s Avonex and Schering AG's Betaseron drugs exclusive access to the U.S. market -- giving those companies a large chunk of the $1 billion multiple sclerosis market. ''What's critical for Ares is what's going to happen to Rebif,'' said Vikram Sahu, an analyst at CS First Boston in London. ''It remains to be seen whether they get access to the U.S. market.'' Sahu rates Ares shares a ''hold'' as a result of the uncertainty over whether Rebif will be sold in the U.S. Shares Drop Ares shares fell 45 Swiss francs to 2,350 francs ($1,709) after they surged to a seven-month high yesterday. The company's bearer shares have gained about 25 percent in the past three months, lagging the 30 percent increase in the 25- stock Bloomberg European pharmaceutical index. Shares in Switzerland's top two drugmakers, Novartis AG and Roche Holding AG, increased 32 percent and 23 percent over the same period. ''Ares looks small compared to Roche or Novartis, but it's the only Swiss drugmaker that's entirely devoted to pharmaceuticals,'' said Arneau de Kalbermatten, an analyst at Banque Cantonale Vaudoise in Lausanne. ''I think their new strategy is paying off and with good news on Rebif we could see shares break records this year.''