P.M. BRIEFING : Investors Rush for AZT Firm Shares
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LONDON — Buyers scrambled to snap up shares in British pharmaceuticals company Wellcome PLC today after tests showed that its drug AZT delays the onset of AIDS in carriers of the virus.
“Wellcome doesn’t know what’s hit it,” said stock analyst Erling Refsum of stockbrokers Nomura Research.
Shares in the company soared more than 33% to $10.84 at midday on the London stock exchange after release of the results of the two-year study Thursday.
Analyst Peter Smith of UBS-Phillips & Drew stockbrokers said the results of the study have put Wellcome, whose drug is the only one so far licensed in the United States to treat AIDS patients, a step ahead of its competitors. “It puts several years between Wellcome and its rivals,” he said.
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