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

To: Rob C. who wrote (2070)	5/25/1999 10:15:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2539

Magic 25 - Merck's Vioxx Now Goes Head-to-Head with Monsanto's Celebrex May 25, 1999 On Monday, shares of Monsanto slipped nearly $4 after Merck's (NYSE:MRK - news) Vioxx drug. received regulatory approval. Vioxx is a direct competiotr to Monsanto's Celebrex, which has enjoyed a great degree of success in the market. Vioxx was approved as expected after an earlier FDA panel recommendation. In anticipation, shares of Monsanto had been sliding throughout last week. "It (the Vioxx approval) was expected but there was some uncertainty as to how it would go down," said Argus Research analyst James Kelleher in an interview with Reuters. Unlike Celebrex, which was only approved for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, Vioxx got an additional indication it sought for acute general and menstrual pain. Kelleher added that the labels for the two drugs are similar in that both contain warnings about possible gastrointestinal side effects. There is no reason to believe that the market can't support both drugs. As a result, we do not expect analysts to sharply ratchet down their estimates for sales of Celebrex. As a reminder, Celebrex became the most successful drug launch ever about three months into sales, topping the previous weekly best-seller Viagra. In addition to Celebrex, Monsanto is seeing strong demand for its agriculture products. After heavy investments in the field of agro-biotech, Monsanto is seeing a return on its investment. As Monsanto continues to make progress on all fronts, we expect shares to trade toward our year-end price target of $60. Analyst: Dave Sterman Updated on May 25, 1999 with MTC at $40 Recommended on 11/16/98 at $42.13 From Individual Investor Online fnews.yahoo.com