BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)

MEDICAL

HMO stocks fall on downgrade

Goldman Sachs downgraded the HMO sector to neutral from attractive on worries that pricing competition would eat into earnings. It also downgraded the stocks of industry players Humana and PacifiCare Health Systems to underperform from in-line, saying both HMOs are vulnerable to local competition. Humana dropped 7% to $21.39, and PacifiCare closed down 7% at $63.92.

Isis rises on arthritis drug tests

The biotech climbed 10% to $7.48 after saying its experimental drug significantly reduced symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in a midstage clinical trial. The "anti-sense" technology is designed to work at the genetic level to block production of disease-causing proteins. Antisense was dealt a blow in March '03, when a cancer drug from Isis and Eli Lilly failed a late-stage trial.

Lilly sees '04 profit below views

The drug firm expects profit to rise 9%-10% to $2.80-$2.85 a share ex items, but that's still below views for $2.93. Eli Lilly sees 65-67 cents a share in Q1; analysts saw a 10% rise to 67 cents. Lilly says marketing and research costs will crimp expected profit for its new osteoporosis, impotence and ADD drugs. Shares fell 1.5% to $70.19.