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 : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1356)	1/26/1999 1:28:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

Warner-Lambert Reiterated 'Strong Buy' at Gruntal, target $98 Bloomberg News January 26, 1999, 10:46 a.m. ET Princeton, New Jersey, Jan. 26 (Bloomberg Data) -- Warner-Lambert Co. (WLA US) was reiterated ''strong buy'' by analyst David F. Saks at Gruntal & Co. The 12-month target price is $98.00 per share. -- Sybil Carlson in Princeton, New Jersey, (609)279-3615

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1356)	1/26/1999 1:29:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

Warner-Lambert Reiterated 'Buy' at J.P. Morgan, target $91 Bloomberg News January 26, 1999, 10:14 a.m. ET Princeton, New Jersey, Jan. 26 (Bloomberg Data) -- Warner-Lambert Co. (WLA US) was reiterated ''buy'' by analyst Carl J. Seiden at J.P. Morgan Securities. The 12-month target price is $91.00 per share.

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1356)	1/26/1999 1:31:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1722

Merck 4th-Quarter Net Rises 13% on Zocor Cholesterol Reducer, 5 New Drugs Bloomberg News January 26, 1999, 11:18 a.m. ET Merck's 4th-Qtr Net Rises 13% on Zocor, 5 New Drugs (Update4) (Uupdates share activity.) Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co., the world's largest drugmaker, said fourth-quarter profit rose 13 percent as it sold five new drugs and began a new ad campaign for its top-seller, cholesterol reducer Zocor. Net income rose to $1.4 billion, or $1.16 a share, from $1.24 billion, or $1.01, a year earlier. Sales rose 21 percent to $7.53 billion from $6.23 billion. Merck is looking to build new products, such as the once-a- day asthma drug Singulair, into blockbusters before the company faces generic competition on some of its best-selling drugs. By 2001, Merck will lose patent protection on four drugs with about $5 billion in combined annual sales. Merck introduced Singulair and four other drugs in 1998. ''There were no big surprises'' in the results, said Jeffrey Chaffkin, an analyst with PaineWebber, who has a ''neutral'' rating on Merck. ''Of all the new products, only Singulair did very well.'' Singulair had $88 million in sales. Other 1998 introductions included the baldness-prevention pill Propecia, which had $30 million in sales, and the migraine drug Maxalt with $12 million in sales. In the fourth quarter, Merck started a money-back guarantee for its top-seller Zocor, a cholesterol-reducing drug that studies indicate can reduce heart problems. The drug has been losing market share to Warner-Lambert Co.'s rival product, Lipitor. Zocor sales rose 11 percent to $1.12 billion. While the drug's sales have continued to increase, Merck has seen its share of the lucrative cholesterol-lowering market shrink because of competition from Warner-Lambert Co.'s rival drug, Lipitor, introduced in 1997. Yesterday, Warner-Lambert said Lipitor fourth-quarter sales rose 73 percent to $704.9 million. Merck has done better with two drugs it introduced in 1995, PaineWebber's Chaffkin said. Sales of Fosamax, a drug used to prevent thinning of bones in older women, rose 44 percent to $235 million. Sales of the high blood pressure Cozaar drug rose 52 percent to $325 million. Earnings results matched the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, rose 3/4 to 138 1/4 in late morning trading. --Kerry Dooley and Kristin Jensen in the Princeton newsroom (609)