Eye disease breakthrough seen in Genentech drug
Published: May 25, 2005
Shares of drug maker Genentech Inc. (DNA), South San Francisco, rose Tuesday while shares of two rivals plunged after Genentech’s drug for a degenerative eye disease showed that it may stabilize or reverse the condition in a clinical trial.
Genentech said its experimental drug Lucentis improved the vision of 95 percent of patients with a form of age-related macular degeneration in a large clinical trial. On average, patients who received Lucentis had a “significant improvement” in their vision after one year. No other drug has been shown to improve vision in patients with the “wet” form of age-related macular degeneration, Genentech said. That form is caused by the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the eye. Affecting 1.2 million Americans, it is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
In recent months Genentech has reported positive clinical data for several new drugs.
Genentech shares rose $2, or 2.6 percent, to close at a new yearly high of $78.60 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday.
Competitor Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. (EYET), New York, shares dropped $11.02, or 46 percent, to close at $12.95 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Eyetech makes a competing drug known as Macugen.
Another firm, QLT Inc. (QLTI), Vancouver, BC, that makes a macular degeneration treatment, Visudyne, saw its stock drop $1.55, or 13 percent, to close at $10.25.
In a fresh report, analysts Jason Kantor and Michael J. Yee at brokerage RBC Capital Markets said they “believe that Genentech is unique among large cap growth companies for its diversified and highly visible sources of growth.”
They wrote that besides Lucentis, Genentech drugs “Avastin for lung and breast cancer, Herceptin for early breast cancer, Tarceva for pancreatic cancer, Rituxan for arthritis” all indicate several billion dollars more in sales.
In the last year, Genentech stock has ranged between $41 and $78.60.
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