EUROPEAN: bourses had a strong start to the reporting period to February 18, after a dismal showing the previous week, aided by positive sentiment in Germany and France. Also helping was billionaire investor Warren Buffet offering a deal to troubled bond insurers in the USA, reports the Financial Times. Stocks meandered around after that, falling sharply on February 15, as US economy concerns resurfaced. However, with US markets closed for President's Day on February 18, European stocks rebounded, leaving them with good week-on-week gains. PARIS saw bioMerieux shoot up 9.4%, helped by newsflow, while Sanofi-Aventis underperformed the market with a 3.0% rise. The firm posted full-year 2007 results which, while seeing only a small profit rise, still pleased investors (Marketletter February 18). Adding to this, Mr Buffet's company Berkshire Hathaway bought stock in the drugmaker valued at some $162.5 million. BRUSSELS saw Solvay move up 4.7%, despite the firm posting fairly flat 2007 results (see page 4). In FRANKFURT, there was a 1.3% decline for Bayer, which fell 2.3% on the last reporting day when it revealed that, with partner Onyx, it was halting a Phase III lung non-small cell cancer trial with Nexavar (see page 21).
LONDON: drug share prices were mixed, with Vernalis leaping 26.3% ahead of the news of its restructuring (see page 28). GlaxoSmithKline was also a beneficiary of Mr Buffet's interest, which resulted in him purchasing 1.51 million American Depositary Receipts in the firm valued at $76.1 million, and an upgrade from analysts at UBS. Fellow drug major AstraZeneca also moved higher, rising 3.7% but just underperforming the market.
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.
Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed
Stock Commentary - Europe - week to Feb 18, 2008
EUROPEAN: bourses had a strong start to the reporting period to February 18, after a dismal showing the previous week, aided by positive sentiment in Germany and France. Also helping was billionaire investor Warren Buffet offering a deal to troubled bond insurers in the USA, reports the Financial Times. Stocks meandered around after that, falling sharply on February 15, as US economy concerns resurfaced. However, with US markets closed for President's Day on February 18, European stocks rebounded, leaving them with good week-on-week gains. PARIS saw bioMerieux shoot up 9.4%, helped by newsflow, while Sanofi-Aventis underperformed the market with a 3.0% rise. The firm posted full-year 2007 results which, while seeing only a small profit rise, still pleased investors (Marketletter February 18). Adding to this, Mr Buffet's company Berkshire Hathaway bought stock in the drugmaker valued at some $162.5 million. BRUSSELS saw Solvay move up 4.7%, despite the firm posting fairly flat 2007 results (see page 4). In FRANKFURT, there was a 1.3% decline for Bayer, which fell 2.3% on the last reporting day when it revealed that, with partner Onyx, it was halting a Phase III lung non-small cell cancer trial with Nexavar (see page 21).
LONDON: drug share prices were mixed, with Vernalis leaping 26.3% ahead of the news of its restructuring (see page 28). GlaxoSmithKline was also a beneficiary of Mr Buffet's interest, which resulted in him purchasing 1.51 million American Depositary Receipts in the firm valued at $76.1 million, and an upgrade from analysts at UBS. Fellow drug major AstraZeneca also moved higher, rising 3.7% but just underperforming the market.
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.
Login to your accountTry before you buy
Free
7 day trial access
Become a subscriber
£820
Or £77 per month
Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK
Companies featured in this story
Sign up to receive email updates
Join industry leaders for a daily roundup of biotech & pharma news
Today's issue
Company Spotlight
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2025 | Headless Content Management with Blaze