Genentech profits are up, and US Sales of Avastin are pretty much par-for-course at 731 Million $ against analyst expectations of 740 Million $, but its share price fell by 2% on the street.
Dunno what transpires in the minds of folks who buy stocks these days, but in my book if a company meets expectations, give or take a few - especially in the depressed pharma sector, its reason for optimism.
Here's the report from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE50E7XC20090115
Not that this will matter too much to Genentech - as Roche prepares its sweetened bid for the chunk of Genentech it doesn't already own, which I reported a few days ago.
There are some concerned people in the industry who believe that the takeover will spell the end of Genentech's reputation and record for converting scientific innovations into bestsellers. There are a number of drugs in late-stage development in the Genentech pipeline, and Roche would take over the responsibilities for taking the drugs (or not taking them, as the case may be) to market.
Make no mistake - this one is about revenues, and not innnovation (drug pipelines, etc) - Roche clearly has its eyes on the revenues that it would gain from sales of Avastin and its colleagues in lucrative markets instead of the current fractions.
WSJ's Health Blog reports that Genentech's CEO, Art Levinson, at Tuesday's JP Morgan Healthcare conference didn't mention a word about the Roche bid.
Thats pharma business for you!
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/01/14/genentechs-levinson-sets-the-record-straight-on-dna/
- oRiOn
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