EUROPEAN: bourses ended the reporting week to January 29 mixed, although mostly little changed. ZURICH saw a 3.4% rise for Actelion, which reported strong early data for its insomnia drug orexin-OXI1/OX2 (see page 19), while drug major Roche dipped 1%, after negative news for its majority-owned US subsidiary Genentech (see page 19). Merck KGaA rose on the FRANKFURT exchange, as interest continued to be expressed in its generics business, which the firm has said it is considering selling and could be worth $5.2-$7.1 billion, analysts estimate (see page 3). Bayer was up a modest 0.5%, after having fallen earlier on the news that it was halting trials of its Trasylol (aprotinin) in non-coronary artery bypass graft indications (see page 21). PARIS saw its CAC 40 rise 0.7% but drug stocks went in the opposite direction. bioMerieux fell 4%, mostly on profit-taking after its previous week's strong showing. Sanofi-Aventis slipped 2%, on rumors that it is planning to buy US marketing partner Bristol-Myers Squibb, started by the French newsletter La Lettre de l'Expansion (see page 3), which were reinforced after this reporting period when the UK's Financial Times reported that B-MS had added to its team of bankers to advise it on a possible takeover bid.
LONDON: drug stocks were mixed, with the FTSE 100 rising just 0.3% overall. The sector was hit on January 26 by negative broker comment, with JPMorgan cutting its price target on AstraZeneca, down 1.4% on the week, to L29.50 from L32.20 ahead of the firm reporting 2006 results. XTL Biopharmaceuticals rose 12.8%, continuing to gain after its previous week's deal with Dov Pharmaceuticals.
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Stock Commentary - Europe - week to Jan 29, 2007
EUROPEAN: bourses ended the reporting week to January 29 mixed, although mostly little changed. ZURICH saw a 3.4% rise for Actelion, which reported strong early data for its insomnia drug orexin-OXI1/OX2 (see page 19), while drug major Roche dipped 1%, after negative news for its majority-owned US subsidiary Genentech (see page 19). Merck KGaA rose on the FRANKFURT exchange, as interest continued to be expressed in its generics business, which the firm has said it is considering selling and could be worth $5.2-$7.1 billion, analysts estimate (see page 3). Bayer was up a modest 0.5%, after having fallen earlier on the news that it was halting trials of its Trasylol (aprotinin) in non-coronary artery bypass graft indications (see page 21). PARIS saw its CAC 40 rise 0.7% but drug stocks went in the opposite direction. bioMerieux fell 4%, mostly on profit-taking after its previous week's strong showing. Sanofi-Aventis slipped 2%, on rumors that it is planning to buy US marketing partner Bristol-Myers Squibb, started by the French newsletter La Lettre de l'Expansion (see page 3), which were reinforced after this reporting period when the UK's Financial Times reported that B-MS had added to its team of bankers to advise it on a possible takeover bid.
LONDON: drug stocks were mixed, with the FTSE 100 rising just 0.3% overall. The sector was hit on January 26 by negative broker comment, with JPMorgan cutting its price target on AstraZeneca, down 1.4% on the week, to L29.50 from L32.20 ahead of the firm reporting 2006 results. XTL Biopharmaceuticals rose 12.8%, continuing to gain after its previous week's deal with Dov Pharmaceuticals.
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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