EUROPEAN: bourses were mixed, moving in quite different directions. ZURICH was the strongest, with a 1.6% rise in the SMI, and the drug stocks tracked outperforming, except Speedel, which was flat for a second week, with the stock seeing little reaction to Novartis' announcement that it intends to increase its stake in the firm (Marketletter July 14). FRANKFURT saw a strong 9.6% gain for MorphoSys, which reported a doubling of its first-half profit (see page 7). Bayer was down 2%, despite having had a good news week (Marketletter August 4), when it received a European regulatory nod for its Xarelto (rivaroxaban), Chinese clearance for Nexavar (sorafenib) and good data on Levitra (vardenafil). However, the firm did report a fall in second-quarter net profit (see page 7). Sanofi-Aventis underperformed the PARIS market, with a 2.7% fall, after the drug major reported a 4% downturn in second-quarter earnings, which were hit by the weak US dollar, and the discontinuation of several drug candidates (see page 10).
LONDON: share prices were also mixed, with the biggest casualty by far being Elan, the shares of which plummeted 66.6% over the week, on reports of a rare brain disorder linked to its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab; see page 18), co-developed with Biogen Idec, and a negative side effects profile for its Alzheimer's drug candidate bapineuzumab, under development with Wyeth (Marketletter August 4). Of the pharmaceutical majors, AstraZeneca put on a strong performance, rising 8.9%, after the firm posted consensus-beating second-quarter results (see page 5), while GlaxoSmithKline, which reported earlier, advanced 4.7%.
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A clinical-stage biotechnology company developing long-acting biologics for severe inflammatory respiratory diseases. Its pipeline is anchored by verekitug, a monoclonal antibody that antagonizes the thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) receptor.
Stock Commentary - Europe - week to Aug 4, 2008
EUROPEAN: bourses were mixed, moving in quite different directions. ZURICH was the strongest, with a 1.6% rise in the SMI, and the drug stocks tracked outperforming, except Speedel, which was flat for a second week, with the stock seeing little reaction to Novartis' announcement that it intends to increase its stake in the firm (Marketletter July 14). FRANKFURT saw a strong 9.6% gain for MorphoSys, which reported a doubling of its first-half profit (see page 7). Bayer was down 2%, despite having had a good news week (Marketletter August 4), when it received a European regulatory nod for its Xarelto (rivaroxaban), Chinese clearance for Nexavar (sorafenib) and good data on Levitra (vardenafil). However, the firm did report a fall in second-quarter net profit (see page 7). Sanofi-Aventis underperformed the PARIS market, with a 2.7% fall, after the drug major reported a 4% downturn in second-quarter earnings, which were hit by the weak US dollar, and the discontinuation of several drug candidates (see page 10).
LONDON: share prices were also mixed, with the biggest casualty by far being Elan, the shares of which plummeted 66.6% over the week, on reports of a rare brain disorder linked to its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab; see page 18), co-developed with Biogen Idec, and a negative side effects profile for its Alzheimer's drug candidate bapineuzumab, under development with Wyeth (Marketletter August 4). Of the pharmaceutical majors, AstraZeneca put on a strong performance, rising 8.9%, after the firm posted consensus-beating second-quarter results (see page 5), while GlaxoSmithKline, which reported earlier, advanced 4.7%.
This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.
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