SPECIAL REPORT
MOST SHARED
- Users of Citibank Bill-Pay App Charged Twice
- US Trade Deficit Swells to $48.8 Billion on China Gap
- Rep. Bachus Faces Insider Trading Probe: Report
- Euro Sags, Risk Appetite Softens on Greek Deal Holdup
- What's Shaking: Friday's Early Movers
- Israel Likely to Bomb Iran This Year: Political Analyst
- Will Romney Regret Opposing Michigan Auto Bailout?
- FBI Investigated Steve Jobs Drug Use
- Greek Aid Deal ‘Much Better’ Than Euro Exit: Summers
- EU Finance Ministers Won't Get Fooled Again
- Bank of America’s Worst-Case Scenario Gets More Real
- Tesla Unveils First SUV: Model X
- New York Fashion Week Hits the Runway as Colors Pop
- Mulling Buffett's Stock Advice? Get in With REITs: Fund Managers
- LinkedIn Earnings Bode Well for Hiring and Social Media
- Top Five Mistakes to Avoid in Online Dating
- Victor Cruz ‘Understands’ Gisele's Super Bowl Frustrations
- Tamminen: The United States of India
- Unusual Volume: Taleo Jumps After Oracle's $1.9 Billion Offer
- Consumer Sentiment Falters, Despite Job Growth
- Greek Aid Deal ‘Much Better’ Than Euro Exit: Summers
- Bonus Bloodbath: Europe Banker Backlash Continues
- US Trade Deficit Swells to $48.8 Billion on China Gap
- Stocks Looking Past Europe for a New Driver of the Rally
- SEC Reaches Settlement in Bear Stearns Fraud Case
- Israel Likely to Bomb Iran This Year: Political Analyst
- EU Agrees Rules for $700 Trillion Derivatives Market
- The World's Best Beers
RSS FEED
Pharma's Market
Text Size 
Genentech Struts Its Stuff
Update
So, during a late-morning break at the Genentech analyst meeting guess who came over to say, "Hey"?
None other than the man himself, Chairman and CEO Art Levinson. He mentioned that he reads the blog and especially liked "My Madoff Moment" post of a couple months ago.
He also complimented me on my work and, most importantly, regarding my campaign to get a sit-down interview with him he said, "Maybe someday."
Hope springs eternal.
_______________________________________
I'm at what could be Genentech's last annual investor and analyst meeting. In the future, this could be Roche's show if the Swiss drugmaker pulls off its hostile bid to buy all of Genentech.
Based on my quick scan of the Manhattan Mandarin Oriental banquet room there are between 200 and 300 people here. There are several chairs in the wings that are empty, though. Plus, you never know how many folks are listening to the webcast especially on a day like today when a snowstorm in the northeast could be keeping some people at home telecommuting.
Genentech rather hastily moved up the date of the meeting by a few weeks so that it could spin its case before the Roche tender offer expires in about a week-and-a-half.
Chairman and CEO Art Levinson opened the meeting by touting the company's scientific and financial track record, the successful corporate culture and its bullish forecast.
For example, the company expects to post a compounded annual earnings growth rate from 2010 to 2015 of 16 percent.
Roche and Genentech [DNA
Loading...
()
] have very different views of what the financial future looks like and, therefore, disagree on what DNA's worth.
But Levinson said, a bit cockily, "We welcome a debate on this with anybody, anytime, anywhere."
Few, if any, are expected to tender their shares for the $86.50 Roche is offering because they're holding out--and, in a sense, rolling the dice--on important test results expected next month on Genentech's Avastin for earlier stage colon cancer.
If they knock the ball out of the park, some analysts say the stock's gonna soar and maybe go out of Roche's price range. The use of Avastin in that patient population is estimated to potentially add another $1 billion to $2 billion in annual sales.
But others say the importance of the study--given the backdrop of the Roche situation--is being overblown.
Levinson didn't specifically handicap the results of that study, but when he showed a graphic of the company's drug development pipeline he made this candid assessment: "Obviously they're not all gonna work, but we have a very good track record."
However, the company's oncologist rock-star head of product development, Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, laid out seven reasons why the study could turn out well.
Genentech execs, employees, investor and, of course, patients and their loved ones hope it's a lucky seven.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
