ALZA UP ON ANALYST'S RECOMMENDATIONAlza Corp.'s stock rose sharply Monday, sparked in part by anAlex. Brown & Sons analyst who kicked off coverage of thedrug-delivery company with a "strong buy" rating. Its stock(AMEX:AZA) gained $1.50 a share to close at $48.
Meanwhile, Curative Technologies Inc. was dogged for a secondconsecutive trading session by jitters over another analyst'sdour prospects for the company's Procuren wound-healingdrug in the face of a possible shift in federal drugreimbursement policy. Curative's stock (NASDAQ:CURE)dropped $1.25 a share to $6.25 on heavy trading. Curative fell$2.50 a share last Friday after Vector Securities analyst PeterDrake warned that reimbursement policies could hurt Procurensales.
"Alza is a leader in the drug-delivery business," said analystBarbara Ryan. Building on its success in helping othercompanies deliver their drugs in more effective systems, Alzahas been negotiating higher royalty rates on newer contractsand is expected to attain 40 percent annual compoundedgrowth.
On a broader measure, the AMEX Biotechnology Index waftedlower to 160.22, down 0.41 for the day.
Among the day's biggest gainers were Alteon (NASDAQ:ALTN),up$1.75 to closed at $21 a share; Immunogen (NASDAQ:IMGN),which rose $1.50 to close at $15 a share; and AppliedBioscience International (NASDAQ:APBI), which gained $1.25 to$15.13.
Losers included International Murex Technologies(NASDAQ:MXX), down $1.63 a share to $15.
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