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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sarmad Y. Hermiz who wrote (46467)	3/19/1999 10:45:00 AM
From: Frost Byte	Respond to of 164684

If sold some AMZN and bought IMNX which splits next week....looking for a big run. New arthritis drug shows promise NEW YORK, Mar 15 (Reuters Health) -- A new drug designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis substantially reduced the number of tender and swollen joints in patients after just a few weeks, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The new drug, etanercept, sold under the name Enbrel, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last November. The drug is the first genetically engineered protein to be used as a drug to fight rheumatoid arthritis. In the study, 234 patients whose arthritis had responded poorly to traditional drugs were randomly assigned to receive one of two doses of the drug -- 25 milligrams or 10 milligrams -- or (an inactive) placebo. ''In patients receiving etanercept, the clinical responses were rapid, often appearing within 2 weeks after initiation of therapy,'' write Dr. Larry Moreland of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues. ''Most responding patients attained substantial responses by 3 months; some patients continued to improve through 6 months.'' The researchers found that the 25-milligram dose was significantly more effective than the 10-milligram dose. After 6 months, the average number of tender joints in patients decreased by 56% in the 25-milligram group and by 44% in the 10-milligram group. In contrast, the number of tender joints fell by only 6% in the placebo group, indicating that the drug had made a difference. Moreland's team concludes that future studies should concentrate on finding out if the drug stops the disease from progressing, and if the drug is also effective in earlier stages of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis occurs in 1% of the adult population and causes progressive destruction of the joints leading to disability and decreased life expectancy. Cause of the disease is unknown, but a protein produced by the body called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is believed to contribute to joint destruction. The drug etanercept regulates TNF activity. The study was funded through a grant from Immunex Corporation (Nasdaq:IMNX - news) of Seattle, Washington, which markets the drug in collaboration with Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

To: Sarmad Y. Hermiz who wrote (46467)	3/19/1999 11:16:00 AM
From: Rob S.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Mostly sales. I think the analysts pay some attention to margins but in the past have been very willing to push out the expectations for improved margins and profits for the stimulation of higher sales. It is interesting to note that PlanetRX is giving away $10 with the first purchase at the site - very similar to DrugStore.com's sales tactic. These sites are very similar in all major respects except that DrugSore.com has the sponsorship of Amazon. What is also very interesting is that the prices at PlanetRX appear significantly lower than DrugSore.com. The rate at which price has become a major factor in e-commerce is greater than I expected. I didn't think it would be quite as important for another year or so. Now you have major companies, such as PriceLine who tout "pay your price" strategies or even offer products at cost in hopes of gaining enough ad revenue to make an eventual profit. That strategy may seem ridiculous to many but is similar in hoped-for result to what Amazon is about. It can make sense on a pro-forma spreadsheet if you figure that the new Internet media can target the 10%-20% promotional and ad budget that goes into the wholesale price of many products. What is unique about the Internet, (except if you consider QVC and other TV shopping channels), is that a significant portion of the ad/promo budget can be taken by the merchant (e-tailer). Give lots of product away at cost and get 10%-15% in ad and promo revenues. That makes sense on paper - as long as the efficiencies of the Internet and habits of the buying public don't change. But what if the tremendous efficiency of the Internet causes ad margins to decrease as well? Maybe it won't cost 10%-20% of a product's cost to sell it. What if that drops to 5%-10%? If that happens, and Internet marketers can only expect to gain a portion of that total, then their take may be only 3%-7% of the aggregate cost of the items sold. Not such a great thing for investors if the stocks are valued in the billions.