ADRs End Slightly Higher; AstraZeneca PLC, British American Tobacco and Novartis Trade Actively
October 16 2018 - 5:28PM
Dow Jones News
International stocks trading in New York closed slightly higher
on Tuesday.
The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 0.02%
to 138.23. The European index increased 0.4% to 129.02. The Asian
index decreased 0.7% to 159.31. The Latin American index fell 0.1%
to 236.06. And the emerging-markets index decreased 0.6% to
289.85.
AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), British American Tobacco PLC (BTI) and
Novartis AG (NVS) were among those with ADRs that traded
actively.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has granted orphan drug
designation to AstraZeneca and Merck & Co. Inc.'s (MRK)
Lynparza to treat pancreatic cancer, AstraZeneca said Tuesday.
Orphan drug designation is given to medicines that aim to treat
rare diseases and provides benefits such as market exclusivity and
tax breaks. Lynparza was previously granted orphan drug status for
ovarian cancer, as well as fallopian tube and primary peritoneal
cancer. Lynparza is being developed by AstraZeneca and Merck &
Co. as part of a strategic collaboration in the field of oncology.
It is currently undergoing a phase 3 trial, with results expected
in the first half of 2019. ADRs of AstraZeneca were up 4.3% to
$39.08.
British American Tobacco's latest trading update was mixed but
the negative elements were foreseeable, Jefferies says. The
investment bank says BAT has cut its revenue target for
next-generation products, slowed down its deleveraging program and
guided for higher currency headwinds. However, Jefferies says most
of those negatives were already expected. On the positive side, BAT
has raised its earnings-growth expectations and is taking market
share in a number of areas, Jefferies says. ADRS of British
American Tobacco were down 3.4% to $41.92.
Novartis is due to present five-year phase 3 extension data on
its drug Cosentyx for patients with two long-term, progressive and
debilitating conditions, the company said Tuesday. The two
conditions are psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, and
the findings of the phase 3 trial extensions will be presented
later this month at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Data from one of the two studies shows that 83% and 94% of
psoriatic arthritis patients experienced total resolution for two
different debilitating symptoms, respectively. More than 80% of the
patients who entered the extensions to the trials completed five
years in them. Safety profiles were consistent with previous
findings, the company said. Novartis reports third-quarter earnings
on Thursday. ADRs of Novartis rose 3.1% to $85.72.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 16, 2018 17:13 ET (21:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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