Stock of Biogen Inc. closed up $1.13 at $34.38 on Wednesdayafter Prudential Bache analyst Joseph Edelman raised hisrating to "buy" from "hold" on the Cambridge, Mass., company.His 12-month price target is $45 per share.

Edelman said that the company's Hirulog anti-coagulant shouldcome in for increased investor attention at the Novembermeeting of the American Heart Association. Hirulog has thepotential to replace heparin, currently a $500 million genericproduct, said Edelman. Hirulog sales could grow to more than$200 million within two years of a projected 1994 productintroduction, he said.

The recent weakness in Biogen's stock price is a buyingopportunity, Edelman said. Biogen stock (NASDAQ:BGEN) hasappreciated about 15 percent since the beginning of the year,compared with about 70 percent for the biotech group, hewrote.

Biogen recently released third-quarter earnings of 3 cents ashare, below the expected 8 cents per share. Edelman loweredhis 1991 earnings estimates to 19 cents from 23 cents, andhis 1992 earnings estimates to 40 cents from 50 cents. -- KB

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