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

To: jopawa who wrote (2108)	6/2/1999 5:31:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

News Release - Rhone-Poulenc Agro Wins Second Lawsuit Against DeKalb Genetics biz.yahoo.com

To: jopawa who wrote (2108)	6/2/1999 5:38:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

American Home May Shed Ag Unit as Monsanto Herbicide Sales Rise news.com

To: jopawa who wrote (2108)	6/2/1999 7:38:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

Merck's Vioxx U.S. Prescriptions Total 581 in First Six Days Bloomberg News June 2, 1999, 6:53 p.m. ET Merck's Vioxx U.S. Prescriptions Total 581 in First Six Days Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co.'s painkiller, Vioxx, captured only 581 prescriptions in the first six days after its introduction, signaling the No. 1 U.S. drugmaker faces a tough battle against Monsanto Co., which sells a similar pill, Celebrex, an analyst said. Merck put Vioxx on U.S. pharmacy shelves on four days after winning federal approval last month, said IMS Health. IMS, an industry-consulting group, supplied the Vioxx sales estimate. IMS officials couldn't be reached immediately for comment. Pfizer Inc., considered one of the drug industry's top marketers, helped Monsanto introduce Celebrex in mid-January after the drug won U.S. approval in December. About 10,000 Celebrex prescriptions were filled in the week ended Jan. 24, according to NDC Health Information, another industry consultant. ''I expected Vioxx's takeoff to be much slower than Celebrex. How much slower, it will take a few weeks to figure out,'' said Hemant Shah, an independent pharmaceutical analyst. ''If the numbers don't improve over the next two to three weeks, then it will be considered a disappointment.'' Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, fell 1 3/8 to 66 3/4 before IMS released the prescription figures. Merck needs to build Vioxx quickly into a drug with $1 billion to $2 billion in annual sales. By 2001, Merck will lose patent protection on four drugs with about $5 billion in combined revenue. Analysts have estimated that Vioxx and Celebrex each could reach $2 billion in annual sales within a few years. They are part of a new class of drugs designed to be gentler on the stomach than are older painkillers, such as ibuprofen. That advantage alone could make the drugs blockbusters even though they are not more effective in treating arthritis pain. quote.bloomberg.com

To: jopawa who wrote (2108)	6/2/1999 7:47:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

Rhone-Poulenc Wins Second Suit Against Monsanto in Corn Case Bloomberg News June 2, 1999, 4:52 p.m. ET Rhone-Poulenc Wins Second Suit Against Monsanto in Corn Case Greensboro, North Carolina, June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Rhone- Poulenc SA, France's No. 1 drugmaker, said it won a second lawsuit over use of its research in Monsanto Co.'s Roundup Ready corn, bolstering its claims against one of the world's biggest makers of seeds and herbicides. A federal court jury in North Carolina found that Monsanto's DeKalb unit infringed on a Rhone-Poulenc patent in developing Roundup Ready corn, Rhone-Poulenc said. This follows a similar ruling in April. The jury today also found that Monsanto misappropriated Rhone-Poulenc trade secrets, Rhone-Poulenc said. Analysts expect Monsanto, the world's largest agricultural biotech company, eventually will enter a pact with Rhone-Poulenc about Roundup Ready corn. Rhone-Poulenc said it does not intend to seek to have the product's sales stopped. ''It's not our intention to deny growers and seed companies access to this new technology,'' said Rick Rountree, a Rhone- Poulenc spokesman. Monsanto officials couldn't be reached immediately for comment. Shares of the St. Louis-based company, which also makes the artificial sweetener NutraSweet and the painkiller Celebrex, fell 9/16 to 40 1/4. In U.S. trading, American depositary receipts of Rhone-Poulenc fell 1 to 45 1/4. The Roundup brand is among Monsanto's fastest-growing products. Roundup herbicides, when used with Monsanto's Roundup Ready line of bioengineered seeds, can be applied over a growing crop to kill weeds without harming the crop. In the first quarter, Monsanto's agricultural sales rose 31 percent to $1.4 billion. Its success has come at the expense of some of its rivals, such as American Home Products Corp. American Home yesterday warned that its 1999 profit would be less than expected because of its agricultural unit. First-quarter sales for that business fell 18 percent to $584 million. Following the April legal victory, a jury awarded $15 million in damages for past sales of Roundup Ready corn, $1 in nominal damages and $50 million in punitive damages. The lawsuit was one of a series filed across the country in recent years in which biotechnology companies such as Monsanto have challenged, or been challenged by, other companies with patents protecting development of genetically engineered crops.