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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (6828)	1/27/1999 9:59:00 PM
From: BigKNY3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

More Breaking Viagra News Viagra has apparently just been approved in China. BigKNY3 Viagra for sale 'within weeks' after Legco nod Doctors expect stampede for pills JO PEGG 01/28/99 South China Morning Post Page 2 Sale of the anti-impotence drug Viagra won unanimous Legco backing last night but the long-awaited pills may not be available for weeks. Health officials said the vote meant the drug could be legal for use on prescription by February 5. But manufacturer Pfizer, which last year made more than $4 billion from Viagra sales in more than 50 countries, said it could take up to a month for supplies from its Sydney factory to be shipped. Urologists expect a stampede when the tablets become available, with 10 per cent of men in the SAR believed to be impotent. The Hospital Authority is yet to decide whether doctors in public hospitals will prescribe Viagra , and whether patients will be asked to pay the full $100 each pill will cost. A panel of experts including cardiologists, psychiatrists and urologists has recommended public doctors prescribe up to 10 pills a month for men with erectile dysfunction. Patients would have to pay for their own tablets. "This really is a new era in treatment," said Kwong Wah Hospital urologist and panel member Dr Andrew Yip Wai-chun. He said about 200,000 men were impotent and more than a million had at least occasional erectile problems. His clinic had been bombarded for months with requests for Viagra . "Erectile dysfunction has serious psychological implications," Dr Yip said. "We've seen divorce and lots of family problems because of it, and I really hope we can help these people." Pfizer representative Angel Choi Lai-kei said the company still needed final government permission to import the drug, after which shipping would be organised. "It could be a week to a month," she said. Publicity to launch the drug would highlight ways patients could distinguish between genuine Viagra and counterfeit tablets. A Pfizer statement on the Internet said more than five million Viagra prescriptions had been written for three million patients worldwide. Sales had earned the firm more than US$551 million (HK$4.26 billion) last year. Despite the drug's popularity, University of Hong Kong sexologist Professor Ng Man-lun yesterday warned men not to expect too much from the drug. He said the blaze of publicity over Viagra had led many to believe it would transform their sex life, even if they were not impotent. "But it helps people to talk more about sex, and I would welcome that," he said.

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (6828)	1/27/1999 10:09:00 PM
From: BigKNY3	Respond to of 9523

A.G Edwards Strategist Freeman Sees Mkt Upswing Ahead 01/27/99 Dow Jones News Service NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. equity strategist Stuart Freeman sees the market taking a sharp turn higher. "We do think we're on the way to getting the next lift in the market," Freeman said in an interview with CNBC when asked if the Dow Jones Industrial Average will hit 10,000 over the next eight weeks. Freeman rated earnings returns so far for the fourth quarter a "B-," saying large companies have seen some smart growth but returns for the average constituent of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index have been largely flat. Freeman says companies that will lead any market upswings will be those in which "investors have a real belief that the earnings growth will be there." The strategist recommends looking at "defensive growth" stocks as a good place to be in the curret market. Specifically he named drug stocks, including Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP), and general merchandise companies, like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT).