Word: centocor
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Biotech companies are notorious for moving ahead with tests too quickly. But, Weisbrod notes, "that still doesn't account for this huge discrepancy." His top picks, too, expect to have drugs approved within two years: Biochem Pharma (hepatitis) and Centocor (blood clots). Another fan of companies with late-stage drugs is Evan Sturza, editor of Sturza's Medical Investment Letter, whose top picks are Aviron (flu), Gilead Sciences (HIV, hepatitis) and Sepracor (side effects from Prozac, Claritin and others...
That is by no means the most devastating loss stemming from a biotech failure in the '90s. Centocor Inc. fell from $60 to $5; Xoma Corp., from $32 to $1; Synergen Inc., from $73 to $4--all because of hyped septic-shock drugs that didn't work. Inject those babies into your 401(k), and you'll never retire. And these aren't isolated cases. Viren Mehta, a biotech expert at Mehta and Isaly, keeps track of biotech bombs. He says there have been 14 major disasters this decade. But even if you avoid specific product failures...
...biotech firm Synergen plummeted 68% in a single day last week after the company disclosed that tests of its most promising new drug had been disappointing. Synergen stock closed last Friday at 15 1/4, down 26 7/8 for the week. The debacle followed the January collapse of shares of Centocor, which fell more than 60% when the firm suspended U.S. testing of its bacterial-shock treatment Centoxin...
...points in one day, to 36 3/4. By the end of last week the price stood at 37 3/4. A domino effect also knocked down the stocks of rival biotech firms, some of which are developing drugs similar to t-PA. Such futuristic- sounding companies as Amgen, Biogen, Centocor, Cetus and Chiron saw their shares drop anywhere from 7% to 11% before recovering some of those losses...
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