Stock Commentary - Europe - week to may 11, 2009

EUROPEAN: bourses put in a mixed showing in the week to May 11, with only small up or down movements in the largest markets, despite gyrating  through the period. PARIS, saw the CAC 40 rise just 0.3%, with a strong  outperformance from Ipsen, which gained 1.9% after posting strong  first-quarter results (Marketletter May 11). Sanofi-Aventis gained  just 0.5%. With the Xetra Dax down 0.7% in FRANKFURT, there was an 8.4%  slump for Merck KGaA, despite the company reporting positive results  for its oral cancer drug cladribine (Marketletter May 11). Drug majors  Novartis and Roche both underperformed in ZURICH, falling 3.4% and  2.8%, respectively. The latter was not helped by the news that the US  Food and Drug Administration had issued an alert that the firm's cancer  drug Tarceva (erlotinib) caused gastrointestinal perforations, nor did  it benefit from FDA approval the previous week of its Avastin  (bevacizumab) in progressive glioblastoma.

LONDON: share prices were strong, with the FTSE 100 rising 4.5% over the  reporting period. Alizyme slumped 22.1%, while Sinclair Pharma gained  12.5%, both on no particular news. Drug major AstraZeneca put in a  stellar performance, gaining 8.8% on the week, fueled by the news that  a head-to-head study of its Brilinta (ticagrelor) met its endpoints  versus standard-of-care drug Plavix (clopidogrel) from Sanofi-Aventis  (see page 21). However, some observers were a little skeptical that the  AZ product could reach the dizzy sales heights of Plavix because, by the  time it comes to market, the latter will be off patent - with generic  blood-thinners available - and prasugrel from Lilly/Daiichi Sankyo will  likely be around.