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

To: Beltropolis Boy who wrote (969)	5/13/1999 2:48:00 PM
From: Biomaven	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1686

Well here's the J&J rumor for what it's worth: NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Shares of Biogen Inc. rose sharply Thursday amid speculation that the biotechnology company could be Johnson & Johnson's next acquisition target. Several analysts gave little credence to the rumors, however. In afternoon trading, shares of Biogen (BGEN) were up $13.688, or 14%, at $109.813 on volume of 3.5 million. J&J has ended talks to acquire Centocor Inc. over several factors, including price, according to reports Wednesday. Shares of Centocor, which had surged in recent weeks amid rumors of a deal, dropped 10% Wednesday. But Thursday afternoon, the stock (CNTO) was up $1.625, or 3.9%, at $43.25 on volume of 2.8 million. Analysts said a J&J bid for Biogen would be very unlikely, noting the biotech company's strong financial position and pipeline of products. Biogen "is not for sale, they're not interested, and there is no reason for them to be on sale," said Richard van den Broek, an analyst at Hambrecht & Quist. Same article goes on to dismiss the LJP reason as well: Analysts Biogen's stock activity Thursday also could be the result of day traders bidding the shares higher after La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. (LJPC) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said they would stop their lupus-drug trial. "I heard it was up on some Internet chat line saying the failure of La Jolla's lupus drug trial is a boon for Biogen," said Jay Silverman, an analyst at BancBoston Robertson Stephens. Silverman and several analysts, however, dismissed the impact of the news on Biogen, which is in the early stages of working on a lupus drug. Also Thursday, PaineWebber analyst Elsie Wang reiterated her "buy" recommendation on Biogen in a bullish research note touting its multiple sclerosis drug Avonex. Peter