Amgen Heads Genetic Engineering News' Top 50 Biotechnology Companies Survey.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Editors

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LARCHMONT, N.Y.--(BW Healthwire)--March 22, 2000

Amgen, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMGN) leads this year's annual Genetic Engineering News (GEN) (www.genengnews.com) survey of the Top 50 Biotechnology Companies. The complete list of companies and their market capitalizations illustrate the fact that a familiar refrain, "Biotech is Back," is being heard once again on Wall Street, reports the March 15, 2000 issue of GEN.

"Driven by a growing number of new products on the market as well as advances in genomics and drug discovery, biotechnology is attracting the attention of many investors who previously had been putting their money elsewhere," says John Sterling, managing editor of GEN.

Amgen, which was number two on the 1999 list, comes in first this year having almost doubled its market cap from $40.2 billion to over $75 billion. AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) , the leader last year (as the Zeneca Group) with $42.9 billion, now falls into second place at $57.7 billion. And Immunex (Nasdaq:IMNX), buoyed by sales of Enbrel(R), Leukine(R) and Novantrone(R), leapt from fifth place in 1999 ($6.9 billion market cap) to third place this year at $33.1 billion.

"The movement of investment dollars into biotechnology and out of arenas like Big Pharma is highlighted by our accompanying top 10 pharmaceutical firm list," notes Sterling. "This year's leader, Merck (NYSE:MRK), which was also number one last year with a market cap of $205 billion, has fallen to approximately $140 billion. in 2000. Meanwhile, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) remains in the second spot ($125.5 billion vs. $185.6 billion in 1999)."

The completion of the Human Genome Project and the increasing importance of pharmacogenomics in new drug development is expected to propel the industry even further, especially in a very positive funding environment. In addition, to Amgen, AstraZeneca and Immunex, Genentech (NYSE:DNA), PE Corp. (as Celera Genomics, NYSE:CRA, and PE Biosystems, NYSE:PEB), Biogen (Nasdaq:BGEN), MedImmune (Nasdaq:MEDI), Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq:HGSI), Chiron (Nasdaq:CHIR) and Sepracor (Nasdaq:SEPR) make up the first ten companies on the top 50 list.

Genetic Engineering News is published 21 times a year by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. For a copy of the publication please call 914-834-3100, ext. 623, or email: [e-mail]