Pharma Marketletter articles from December 2004

Pharma Marketletter archives from December 2004

FDA OKs new version of Remodulin.(United Therapeutics Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... United Therapeutics of the USA says the US Food and Drug Administration has issued an approvable letter for the use of an intravenous formulation of its Remodulin (treprostinil sodium) in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The...

BioMarin and Daiichi in Phenoptin deal.(BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc, Daiichi Suntory)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... US firm BioMarin Pharmaceutical has entered into an alliance with Japan's Daiichi Suntory Pharma for Phenoptin (sapropterin hydrochloride), an investigational oral enzyme co-factor for the treatment of the genetic condition phenylketonuria. ...

RegeneRx's TB4 may reduce cardiac damage.(RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals Inc's thymosin beta 4)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... A study published in the November 25 issue of Nature shows that thymosin beta 4, a naturally-occurring peptide being developed by US firm RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, significantly reduces tissue damage, ventricular scarring and dilation, and...

Roche and deCODE sign PDE4 inhib accord.(Roche Holding Ltd, deCODE genetics Inc)(phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitors)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Iceland-based deCODE genetics has signed a three-year collaborative agreement with Swiss drug major Roche to develop and commercialize phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitors for the prevention and treatment of vascular disease, including stroke. ...

Nastech gains rights to peptide YY analogues.(Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Nastech Pharmaceutical says it has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to patents and patent applications from the University of Cincinnati, USA, covering peptide YY analogues in the fields of obesity and appetite suppression.

Bayer to develop longer-acting Kogenate.(Bayer HealthCare)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Bayer HealthCare's Biological Products division has signed an exclusive, global technology license with Netherlands-based Zilip-Pharma for the development and commercialization of a new, longer-acting Kogenate product, its factor VIII...

Barr gets exclusive US rights to King's Prefest.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Barr Pharmaceuticals' subsidiary, Duramed Pharmaceuticals, has acquired from King Pharmaceuticals the exclusive US rights for Prefest (estradiol/norgestimate) tablets. The product is indicated in women with an intact uterus for the treatment of...

German generics mkt "oligopoly" warning.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The German association of generic drug manufacturers, the DGV, whose members are mainly medium-sized or smaller firms, has warned that the market faces an oligopoly in the medium term, with three companies - Ratiopharma, Hexal and Stada -...

Pfizer, AstraZeneca slam German Rx price regs.
December 6, 2004... Evidence that Germany's health service reform and, particularly, the drug price regime, is proving a deterrent to international drugmakers has come from Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Pfizer has taken whole-page ads in some German newspapers...

Spain to cut Rx prices: R&D "under threat".
December 6, 2004... In Spain, the Ministry of Health has announced that it will reduce medicine prices 4% in 2005 and a further 2% in 2006, and that it will also suspend the current system of reference pricing on the grounds that it perceives it to be "arbitrary...

Greece to scrap state-insured drug list.
December 6, 2004... Greek Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis has announced that the list of medicines which state-insured patients may be prescribed is to be abolished by next February, as part of a major overhaul of the national drug distribution system. The...

Ireland "world's biggest net Rx exporter".(drugs)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Ireland is now the world's largest net exporter of medicines, with trade exceeding $13.3 billion a year from an industry employing 21,000 people, says a new report published by the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association. However, the...

US Medicare Rx benefit: the low-incomed will get major help, others less so: study.
December 6, 2004... US Medicare beneficiaries on low incomes who sign up for new Part D drug plans and receive the additional subsidies - an estimated 8.7 million people - are projected to pay 83% less for prescription drugs in 2006 than they would have spent if...

India's new product patent law: challenges and opportunities for local drugmakers.
December 6, 2004... The transition to a product patent regime from January 1, 2005, will present the Indian pharmaceutical industry in general, and established local drugmakers in particular, with a major decision. Should they greatly expand their R&D to develop...

Bayer 3rd-qtr beats expectations but still awaits pharma sales turnaround.
December 6, 2004... German pharmaceutical and chemical major Bayer has posted an overall third-quarter 2004 sales gain of 3.4% to 7.06 billion euros ($9.21 billion) but, with some negative product performances, Bayer HealthCare saw an 8.4% decline in turnover to...

Pharmaxis secures US patent for MS treatment.(multiple sclerosis)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Australia's Pharmaxis has extended the intellectual property protection for its autoimmune disease research, with the grant of a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for a potential new treatment for multiple sclerosis. This is one...

Favorable decision for Valeant in Yugoslav dispute.(Valeant Pharmaceuticals International)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (formerly ICN International) says that the ICC International Court of Arbitration has rendered a decision in the company's long-standing dispute with the State Health Fund of Serbia and the Republic of...

Provalis completes purchase of Diclomax.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... UK-based medical diagnostics and health care firm Provalis has made the final payment for Diclomax (diclofenac) to Pfizer under a purchase agreement signed in December 2001. Under the terms of the deal, Provalis acquired Diclomax, a...

New KPMG handbook available soon.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The 2003-4 edition of KPMG's disclosures handbook, called Risk, disclosure and corporate governance in the global pharmaceuticals industry, will be available from December 6. Providing an insight into the disclosures made by some of the...

Premier joins AIM with L7M placing.(Alternative Investment Market )(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Pharmaceutical services group Premier Research is to trade on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange from December 2, following a successful L7 million ($13 million) placing, reports the Financial Times. The company...

More bad news for Genta's Genasense.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... USA-based Genta says that its randomized Phase III trial of Genasense (oblimersen sodium) Injection in patients with advanced multiple myeloma did not meet its primary endpoint. The study had been designed to examine whether the addition of...

BioPartners files for Valtropin in EU.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Switzerland-based BioPartners has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to the European Medicines Agency for Valtropin (somatropin), its recombinant human growth hormone developed in conjunction with Korea's LG Life Sciences. The...

AstraZeneca's Atacand OKed for new use.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca says that the its anti-hypertensive drug Atacand (candesartan cilexetil) has been cleared in the European Union for the treatment of chronic heart failure. The agent is now indicated for the treatment of...

Extended indication for Fludara Oral in EU.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The European Medicines Agency has expanded the use of Schering AG of Germany's cancer drug Fludara Oral (fludarabine) to include the first-line treatment of patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The product is already registered in...

BioMarin files Aryplase BLA in the USA.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... USA-based BioMarin Pharmaceuticals has submitted a Biologics License Application to the US Food and Drug Administration for Aryplase (galsulfase), an investigational enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis VI.

New concerns over Australian drug prices.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Following the Australian government's recent announcement that it plans, from January 1, to save A$830 million ($628.1 million) by automatically paying 12.5% less for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme-listed drugs once their patents expire...

Australian biotech firms "ignoring reporting code".(biotechnology industries)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The Australian Stock Exchange and AusBiotech Code of Best Practice Reporting is being ignored by most of the 100 or so listed life science companies, say sector analysts. The code was introduced last spring (Marketletter May 17), with the...

Iran: foreign Rx prices "to fall up to 70% in 2005".(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Officials in Iran have reported that legislation introduced to increase competition among pharmaceutical imports has resulted in a general fall in the price of foreign-made medicines, and that price declines of up to 70% are expected in 2005,...

Guatemala repeals data exclusivity decree.
December 6, 2004... International aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres has welcomed the repeal by Guatemala's Congress of Decree 9-2003, which last year modified the intellectual property law to provide five years' data exclusivity on drugs registered there. ...

Are the drugs we take really safe, asks US lawyer Scott Hendler.(Merck and Company Inc's Vioxx)
December 6, 2004... Following the US Senate Finance Committee oversight hearings on the Food and Drug Administration and drug safety, and Merck & Co's Vioxx (rofecoxib) in particular (Marketletter November 29), lawyer Scott Hendler of HendlerLaw, which specializes...

Novel peptide production process from Japan's Ajinomoto.(Ajinomoto Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Ajinomoto Co, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, has announced a new revolutionary enzymatic method to manufacture peptides that have very important physiological functions. "Future demand for peptides is expected to be expanded remarkably by using...

"Most-respected" global pharmaceutical companies.(GlaxoSmithKline PLC)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Drug major GlaxoSmithKline has been voted the eighth most respected company in the UK, in a survey of nearly 1,000 chief executives in 25 countries conducted by PricewaterhouseCooper and the Financial Times. However, in the global ranking...

Tm Bioscience signs distribution deal with Gamidor in Israel.(Gamidor Diagnostics)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Tm Bioscience Corp of Canada, an emerging company in the commercial genetic testing market, says it has signed a distribution agreement with Gamidor Diagnostics, a leading distributor of clinical diagnostics in Israel. Under the terms of the...

Generex breaks off talks with Charmed.(Generex Biotechnology Corp, Charmed Capital)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Canada's Generex Biotechnology Corp says that it has concluded its discussions with Charmed Capital (formerly Sejong Capital) on possible cooperation and, in connection with this, has elected to forego its entitlement to a deposit in respect of...

Nutra Pharma delays Form 10-QSB filing.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Nutra Pharma, a US biotechnology holding company that owns rights to intellectual property related to the development of drugs for HIV and multiple sclerosis, has announced that it will delay the filing of its Form 10-QSB for the third quarter...

Avidia and BI Austria in development and manufacturing deal.(Avidia Research Institute and Boehringer Ingelheim Austria)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... USA-based Avidia Research Institute and Boehringer Ingelheim Austria, a division of the like-named German drugmaker, have entered a multi-year development and manufacturing agreement, under the terms of which the latter will develop...

Shionogi posts mixed 1st-half results; earnings beat expectations but sales down.(Shionogi and Company Ltd.)
December 6, 2004... Japanese drugmaker Shionogi has reported better-than-initially-forecast consolidated earnings for the first half of fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, thanks to a reduction of manufacturing costs and other expenses. Shionogi's total...

Hubei Pharma boosts Xuejing distribution.(Hubei Pharmaceutical Group's forecast)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... USA-based Hubei Pharmaceutical Group, which is soon to change its name to Amersin Life Sciences, says that it expects sales of its new hemostatic product, Xuejing, to accelerate significantly in China on the signing of a distribution deal with...

Kyorin's interim sales rise but profits slump.(Kyorin Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Japanese drugmaker Kyorin Pharmaceutical saw its sales inch up 0.7% to 31.0 billion yen ($300 million) for the first six months of its fiscal year to March 2005. However, earnings plummeted 71.8% to 1.32 billion yen as revenue growth was...

Ohio sues another drugmaker for "fraud".(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Jim Petro, Attorney General of the US state of Ohio, has filed another suit against a pharmaceutical manufacturer, claiming that it defrauded state residents by concealing information that would have resulted in lower drug prices. The law...

NeuTec signs manufacturing partner for Mycograb.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... NeuTec Pharma, a UK biopharmaceutical company targeting drug-resistant, life-threatening infections, has announced the signing of a contract for the commercial scale manufacturing of Mycograb, a human recombinant antibody and the company's lead...

Dyax grants use of its antibody phage display libraries to Tanox.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Dyax Corp says that it has granted a non-exclusive license to its proprietary antibody phage display libraries to fellow US company Tanox, which specializes in the development of biotherapeutics for asthma, allergy, oncology, inflammation and...

Aventis HQ to relocate from Strasbourg to Paris.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Following the merger of Sanofi-Synthelabo and Aventis to create Sanofi-Aventis, it has now been confirmed that the headquarters of the new firm will be located in Paris, France, and Aventis' head office in Strasbourg, France, will be vacated....

Panacos amends Vitex merger terms again.(Panacos Pharmaceuticals Inc, V.I. Technologies)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Panacos Pharmaceuticals says that terms of its proposed merger with fellow USA-based group VI Technologies (Vitex) have been modified again on recent changes in the development status of key technologies at both firms, following the...

OSI Pharmaceuticals' FY net loss widens.(fiscal year)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The USA's OSI Pharmaceuticals has posted a 44% leap in net loss to $260.4 million, or $6.50 per share, for its full fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, as a strong rise in revenues was buffered by a sharp increase in expenses. The...

Merck KGaA sells facility to Orgasynth.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... German drugmaker Merck KGaA says it is selling its production facility in Pithiviers, France, to the Paris-headquartered independent chemicals group Orgasynth SA, in a move to consolidate its global production infrastructure. The terms of...

LAB receives $4.6M TEKES support grant.(LAB Pharma)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Canadian drug development firm LAB International's Finnish subsidiary, LAB Pharma, has secured an approximate $4.6 million grant from TEKES, the National Technology Agency of Finland, to support its R&D programs. Around 30% of the funding will...

DSM eyes deal with North China Pharma.(Royal DSM NV, North China Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Netherlands-based chemicals group Royal DSM NV has confirmed that it is in talks with the vitamins and antibiotics manufacturer North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp of Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, with regard to a potential strategic...

Japan stock market week to November 29.
December 6, 2004... Tokyo saw a rally in the week to November 29 (four trading days because November 23 was a national holiday in Japan), with the market encouraged by a respite in the recent appreciation of the yen against the US dollar and crude oil price hikes....

Pharming raises funds to accelerate portfolio.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Netherlands-based Pharming Group NV has placed 3 million new shares with professional long-term investors to accelerate development of its product portfolio. The gross proceeds from this placement of 6 million euros ($7.8 million) will...

Role of nanotech in drug discovery and delivery markets.(nanotechnology)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Canadian firm NanoMarkets has recently launched a new research project that addresses the role of nanotechnology in drug discovery and drug delivery. The findings will be released early in the first quarter of 2005. The cost and quality of...

Zentiva is sixth "best" company in Czech Rep.(Czech Republic)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The drugmaker Zentiva has been ranked as the sixth "best" company in the Czech Republic in 2004, according to the CTK news agency's Business News. The competition for the Czech Best 100 competition is open to companies registered and...

Elan completes offer and solicitation for EPIL III series B and C guaranteed notes.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Ireland's Elan Corp and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Elan International Services, have accepted for payment a total of $350.97 million aggregate principal amount of series B and C guaranteed notes. This amount includes just over $317.4 million...

COPD on the rise and often overlooked, Bayer study finds.(chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
December 6, 2004... As the mortality rate for women suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease increases, misdiagnosis of the condition puts millions at risk for serious lung damage. In the USA and Europe, the number of women who die from COPD has...

Roche employees take part in AIDS walk.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Around 8,000 Roche employees at almost 60 sites worldwide are taking part in the Swiss firm's new AIDS Walk on World AIDS Day, to support children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Malawi. Collectively, Roche employees will walk or run once around...

Patent boosts GeneMedix' shares.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... UK biotechnology firm GeneMedix saw its share price jump 22% on November 29, as investors were spurred by the news that the group has been granted US Patent 6,800,606 B1 for monomeric analogues of human insulin. Chief executive Paul...

AlgoRx files registration statement for IPO.(Initial public offerings)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... New Jersey, USA-headquartered AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals, which is focused on the development and commercialization of pain therapeutics, has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an Initial...

Richard Perry enters Mylan-King melee.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... A new player has joined the scuffle surrounding Mylan Laboratories and its planned acquisition of King Pharmaceuticals. Richard Perry, president of investment advisor Perry Corp, has reportedly taken Carl Icahn's place as the biggest...

India to price-manage essential drugs.
December 6, 2004... The Sandhu Committee, set up by the Indian government to report on pharmaceutical pricing (Marketletters passim), has recommended that all drugs included on the National List of Essential Medicines should be covered by regulatory "price...

India's patent office modernization plan.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... As Indian prepares for the introduction of its new product patent regime on January 1 (see also page 25), the government is spending 1.14 billion rupees ($25.4 million) on modernizing the country's four patent offices. The program...

Brazil to make HIV/ AIDS drugs in 2005.
December 6, 2004... The Brazilian government has announced that it is planning to start domestic production of as many as five antiretroviral drugs which it currently buys from multinational drugmakers, in order to ensure the long-term viability of the country's...

Risperdal Consta, Zyprexa for Australian PBS.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Janssen's schizophrenia treatment Risperdal Consta (risperidone) and Eli Lilly's Zyprexa (olanzapine) for bipolar affective disorder will be covered by Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from next February. Their inclusion is forecast...

Vietnam parliament debates drug law.
December 6, 2004... Vietnam's National Assembly (parliament) has been debating a proposed new pharmaceuticals bill, designed to better protect patients' interests and give the state more control over the drug industry, reports the Vietnamese News Agency. ...

Canadian PMPRB to review price rise regs.(Patented Medicine Prices Review Board)
December 6, 2004... Robert Elgie, chairman of Canada's Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, has announced a review of the Board's current guidelines governing price rises for patented drugs. Speaking in Toronto, Dr Elgie said a review is warranted in light...

Malaysia/Cuba anticancer vacc accord?(Bioven Sdn Bhd and Dnapro Sdan Bhd are to cooperate with Cuba's Center for Molecular Immunology )(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Malaysian biotechnology companies Bioven Sdn Bhd and Dnapro Sdan Bhd are to cooperate with Cuba's Center for Molecular Immunology in conducting trials for anticancer vaccines, according to Malaysian diplomatic sources in Havana reported by the...

Argentine 9-month pharma trade.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Argentina exported pharmaceuticals and related products worth $252 million in the first nine months of 2004, a year- on-year rise of 30.5%, the National Statistics Institute has reported. Imports of these products were worth $404 million, up...

Roche's Avastin shows survival benefit when used in second-line setting.(Roche and Genentech)
December 6, 2004... Roche and Genentech, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Swiss drug major, say that Avastin (bevacizumab) significantly increases survival when used in combination with a standard oxaliplatin-containing regimen, in patients with metastatic...

Gilead and Achillion sign HCV deal.(hepatitis C virus)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Gilead Sciences has entered into an exclusive agreement with fellow US firm Achillion Pharmaceuticals under which it has acquired the worldwide rights for the R&D and commercialization of certain of the latter's compounds for the treatment of...

Novartis withdraws EU filing for Prexige.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Swiss drug major Novartis says it has withdrawn its application for the European Union's Mutual Recognition Procedure for Prexige (lumiracoxib) to await the findings of the European Medicines Agency's review of all selective COX-2 inhibitors....

FDA clears new use for AstraZeneca's Nexium.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new use for Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca's Nexium (esomeprazole). The agent is now also indicated for reducing the risk of gastric ulcers developing among at-risk patients on continuous...

Forest's Combunox approved in USA.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... USA-based Forest Laboratories says the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its Combunox, the first and only fixed-dose combination of the opioid oxycodone HCl (5mg) and the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen (400mg), for...

BioXell starts Ph IIa OAB trial for BXL629.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Italy's BioXell has begun its Phase IIa program to investigate the efficacy of its BXL628 in overactive bladder. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will involve 120 patients in 13 urology and gynecology centers across Italy....

German pharma prices set to increase?(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... All indications are that German drugmakers are set to raise the prices of some of their product ranges at the turn of the year. Price increases are now in the pipeline for around 317 products, according to reliable media sources. The...

EU pledges early-2005 HIV/AIDS Action Plan.(European Union)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The European Commission is the second-largest donor to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, after the USA, and will in early 2005 present an action plan for concrete initiatives in developing countries, Louis Michel,...

Don't panic over Pfizer ads, Germans told.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Health funds and general practitioners in Germany have launched a counter-offensive against the advertising campaign launched by Pfizer against the health service fixed-level price support regime. Pfizer is trying to stop its leading...

Latvia: high Rx prices.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Top-selling drugs' prices in Latvia are 8%-20% higher than in Lithuania or Estonia due to the recent rise in the euro's value, as Latvia buys most of its drugs from euro-zone countries, reports Baltic Business News. Health Ministry spokesman...

Ukraine pharma trade.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Ukraine exported pharmaceuticals worth $43.8 million in the first nine months of 2004, up 19% on the same period of 2003, while imports grew 28% to $486 million, says the State Statistics Committee. Also, Ukrainian drug store sales grew 13%...

US state to help Kansas residents import drugs.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The US state of Kansas is joining the I-SaveRx prescription drug importation program set up in October by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to allow citizens to buy prescription drugs from state-approved pharmacies in Europe and Canada...

Ohio sues another drugmaker for "fraud".
December 6, 2004... Jim Petro, Attorney General of the US state of Ohio, has filed another suit against a pharmaceutical manufacturer, claiming that it defrauded state residents by concealing information that would have resulted in lower drug prices. The law...

Feds seek Vermont suit withdrawal.(case between Food and Drug Administration, state of Vermont)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The US state of Vermont's law suit, brought against the Food and Drug Administration for blocking its December 4, 2003, petition requesting that its state employee benefit plan be allowed to establish a program for importing prescription drugs...

NY state retirement fund sues Merck & Co.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The USA's second-largest public pension fund has issued the first law suit in a shareholder class action against Merck & Co, alleging violations of federal securities laws resulting from its failure to disclose material information concerning...

SPECTRUM.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 6, 2004... -------------------------------------------------------- Stock Close %Change On Week Immune Response $1.34 +22.9 Phytopharma 190.0 pence +13.4 SkyePharma ...

Stock Commentary - Europe.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... EUROPEAN: bourses meandered up and down pver the reporting week to November 29, and all but ZURICH ended slightly higher overall. There, drug majors Roche, down 1.5%, and Novartis, 1.1% lower, underperformed the market's 0.8% decline. FRANKFURT...

Stock Commentary - New York.
December 6, 2004... NEW YORK: saw the Dow Jones virtually unchanged in the Thanksgiving holiday week-impacted reporting period to November 29. Drug and biotechnology issues were mixed, with 25 of the stocks tracked rising, 17 declining and two unchanged. Most of...