EUROPEAN: bourses put on a strong rally on the first day of the reporting week to November 10, the sixth consecutive advance, on hopes of further interest rate cuts, but then went into sharp decline for two days before picking up, leaving markets mixed by close. The worst showing came in FRANKFURT, which had seen a particularly steep gain the previous week because of exceptional trading in carmaker VW, where the Xetra Dax was down 9.1% and pharmaceutical stocks, although seeing falls, outperformed. Drug majors Bayer and Merck KGaA slipped 1.4% and 1.9%, respectively. PARIS, where the CAC 40 dipped just 0.6%, saw bioMerieux decline 4.0% and Sanofi-Aventis fall 3.6%.
LONDON: share prices meandered around the week with the FTSE 100 down 0.9% overall. Antisoma leapt 18.9% on no particular news, while Protherics gained on the back of a big jump for about to be parent BTG, which has out-licensed a product to US firm Onyx that could net it proceeds of up to $320.0 million. Shares in Elan plunged 12.9% after the firm, and US partner Biogen Idec, reported a third case of the brain disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient using their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab). The companies revised the drug's prescribing information in July following two cases of PML reported in patients taking the drug. The news comes just a week after Elan reported a 53% increase in third quarter revenues, driven by the success of Tysabri (Marketletter November 10). AstraZeneca rose to a 16-month high on November 10, though up just 2.4% on the week, after reporting that its cholesterol drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) could also prevent heart attack (see page 18).
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Stock Commentary - Europe - week to Nov 10, 2008
EUROPEAN: bourses put on a strong rally on the first day of the reporting week to November 10, the sixth consecutive advance, on hopes of further interest rate cuts, but then went into sharp decline for two days before picking up, leaving markets mixed by close. The worst showing came in FRANKFURT, which had seen a particularly steep gain the previous week because of exceptional trading in carmaker VW, where the Xetra Dax was down 9.1% and pharmaceutical stocks, although seeing falls, outperformed. Drug majors Bayer and Merck KGaA slipped 1.4% and 1.9%, respectively. PARIS, where the CAC 40 dipped just 0.6%, saw bioMerieux decline 4.0% and Sanofi-Aventis fall 3.6%.
LONDON: share prices meandered around the week with the FTSE 100 down 0.9% overall. Antisoma leapt 18.9% on no particular news, while Protherics gained on the back of a big jump for about to be parent BTG, which has out-licensed a product to US firm Onyx that could net it proceeds of up to $320.0 million. Shares in Elan plunged 12.9% after the firm, and US partner Biogen Idec, reported a third case of the brain disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient using their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab). The companies revised the drug's prescribing information in July following two cases of PML reported in patients taking the drug. The news comes just a week after Elan reported a 53% increase in third quarter revenues, driven by the success of Tysabri (Marketletter November 10). AstraZeneca rose to a 16-month high on November 10, though up just 2.4% on the week, after reporting that its cholesterol drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) could also prevent heart attack (see page 18).
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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