Shares of Xoma Corp. rose 88 cents on Tuesday to $24 afterRobertson, Stephens analyst Mark Simon told the firm's tradersthat the company's E5 monoclonal antibody to treat septicshock is likely to receive Food and Drug Administrationapproval soon after Centocor Inc.'s Centoxin.

An FDA advisory committee last September recommendedapproval of Centoxin, but the FDA at that time said it wasn'tready to accept a recommendation on E5.

Xoma's product doesn't have to go back before an advisorycommittee, said Carol DeGuzman, spokeswoman for theBerkeley, Calif., company (NASDAQ:XOMA).

Shares of Malvern, Pa.-based Centocor (NASDAQ:CNTO) lost$1.50 to $49.75.

Many Wall Street analysts predict Centoxin will be approved inlate February or early March. E5 could be approved in lateMarch, said Simon's assistant, Edward Kim. Kim declined to saywhat information that assessment is based on.

"People have forgotten about E5 and assume Centoxin is goingto take 100 percent market share, and we don't think that'sgoing to happen," said Kim. He said it's important to considerhow aggressive Xoma's marketing partner, Pfizer Inc., will be inpricing E5. In addition, Kim suggested, Pfizer might market E5by bundling it with other products. -- KB

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