Stock Commentary - Europe - week to Aug 11, 2008

EUROPEAN: bourses were all significantly stronger in the reporting period to August 11, having put in a poor showing the previous week, being helped by lower crude oil prices. Leading European pharmaceutical companies outperformed their national market indexes ahead of the weekend, but flattened on the final day. PARIS saw a strong 6.9% advance for Sanofi-Aventis, which had dipped the week earlier on disappointing second-quarter results, with a similar reaction for UCB in BRUSSELS, where the firm was up 15% despite posting a 37% first-half profits fall (Marketletter August 11). ZURICH witnessed a 3.9% downturn in drug major Roche, which is bidding for control of majority-owned, USA-based Genentech (Marketletter July 28) and is expected to increase its offer price of $89 a share significantly. Fellow Swiss major Novartis was also down, falling 1.9% on the week, but levelling off from its 3.1% fall on August 6, after a downgrade from analysts at JP Morgan. Crucell was strong ahead of results, rising 9.8% on the AMSTERDAM bourse over the reported week

LONDON: share prices were also strong, with the FTSE100 up 4.2%. Drug major AstraZeneca just underperformed with a 3.8% rise, while GlaxoSmithKline beat the index rising 5.4%. The star, however, was a dramatic 44.2% leap for little Sinclair Pharma, which shot up 30% on August 7, after the firm said it was in talks with an unnamed party which could lead to a "strategic opportunity." The current discussions are still at a preliminary stage, and there is no certainty that any offer will be forthcoming. Elan gained 2.9%, after last week's 66.6% plunge on negative Tysabri (natalizumab) news.