WSJ Research
 My Wall Street Journal Research was conducted on Johnson and Johnson, a major player in the pharmaceutical industry. From January 28, 2002 to February 28, 2002, there were 12 articles mentioning the firm or industry in the Wall Street Journal. 1.
Frank, Robert. "As Tyco Splits, Talk of Units' Sale
Tyco is now holding meeting about other
businesses looking to acquire parts of their firm. Tyco is planning
to split up into four "mini companies": security and electric, financial
services, health care, and fire protection and control. General Electric
is the company most interested in acquiring parts of Tyco. Johnson
and Johnson are rumored along with Abbot Labs to have taken an interest
in acquiring the health care portion of Tyco. Although they could
not be reached they are suspected to be a perfect fit if the takeover
occurred. Tyco has decided to start sell of some of it company due
to poor performance and outside pressures.
2. Zimmerman, Rachel. "Trail to Test if Seaweed Gel Blocks HIV," Wall Street Journal, January, 31, 2002. A newly found seaweed plant along the coasts
of Chile and Nova Scotia may have effects that could help prevent the spread
of the HIV virus. The seaweed, called carraguard, binds to the virus
and coats it, not allowing it to take effect. The medicine is to
be taken an hour before intercourse. This could be revolutionary
in Africa and Thailand because it allows women to take STD prevention into
their own hands. Bill and Melinda Gates plan on donating millions
of dollars to research this project. Johnson
and Johnson were doing similar project years ago but decided to pull
back their resources and they don't plan to reinstate then either.
Johnson and Johnson has said that if the drug was found to be effective,
they would retest it and decide whether they should manufacture it.
3. Hensley, Scott. " J&J Ends Weight-Loss Trail of Topamax," Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2002.
4. Zimmerman, Rachel. "B.B. King's Mixed Messages Give Some Fans the Blues," Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2002.
Click to listen to B.B. King clip Media RAM 5. Lueck, Sarah. "Thompson Back OTC Status for Popular Antihistamines," Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2002. Tommy Thompson, Health and Humans Secretary,
has said he would favor allowing some popular prescriptions to become over-the-counter
medication. This was just his opinion and he gave no time frame as
to when this could take place. The three drugs he was talking about
are Claritin, Allegra, and Zyrtec. If this switch would take place
it would open the door for other companies, such as Johnson
and Johnson, to be able to produce generic version of the drugs.
Johnson and Johnson has already express interest in producing a generic
version of Claritin. Not only would drugs companies loose revenue
if generic versions were made but they would also loose money due to a
reduction in price from prescription to over-the-counter. The main
concern for the general population would be education. Some buyers
would not know if they need to use such products and some have stated that
they think it would be risky to use Claritin or Allegra without a prescription.
6. Mantz, Beth. "Heath-Care Investor Watches U.S. Policy," Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2002. There is more to investing in health-care
than looking at a companies research, financial records and management
experience. The biggest thing to keep an eye on is government policy.
Government policy effects patent law, food and drug law, and federal funding.
Stock average for health-care companies are down 5.6% over the past year.
As of late, the drug companies have been under huge pressure to lower costs.
They argue they are not normal sellers and that insurance companies pick
up most the their bills. For example, a metal joint costs more than
a plastic joint for hip replacement. Although metal joints costs
more they are better in the long run. People have been outliving
their plastic joints and have needed replacements. The question become
pay a little now and more later or a lot now and little later. Despite
the pressure to lower cost, a select group of companies are still succeeding.
They are Amegen, Johnson and
Johnson, and Pfizer.
7. Bank, David. "Two High-Profile Progeny of H-PAre Divided Over Need to Diversify," Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2002. Two high profile foundation started by
H-P are having conflicts on whether to diversity their portfolios.
One of the foundations, which only owns stock in two companies, reached
a high of about 18 billion only to be followed by a 12 billion loss to
lower their value to about 6 billion. The other foundation on the
other hand, which has a more diversity, only had a 2% loss. The trend seems
to be when you invest in one or two stocks you can have some serious gains
but can also have serious losses. By diversifying a portfolio will
avoid the big losses and the downside will also will avoid the big highs.
For example, The Robert Jones Foundation, which has almost all of its holdings
in Johnson and Johnson,
have outperformed all of the stocks in its class this year but had a huge
hit last year. Also the Kresge Foundation, which had stock in Kmart
had a little hit, but that was only because of its diversity.
8. Johannes, Laura. " Anemia Drug is Found Tied to Disorder," Wall Street Journal, February,14, 2002 Johnson and Johnson new drug, Eprex is
believed to be in conjunction with a rare fatal disease in Europe.
Eprex is used to treat anemia, which is caused by the kidney. Eprex
is believed to increase red blood cell aplaisa, which is where the body
looses it ability to make red blood cells. Johnson
and Johnson is leaving nothing to chance to find out why there may
be a connection involved. Eprex is the synthetic version of the hormone
used in the kidneys to produce red blood cells. Patients with anemia
are unable to make enough of the hormone. Johnson and Johnson has
made several manufacturing changes in the past years but doesn't believe
that it has anything to do with the new findings. There has been
no effect in the sale of Eprex at this time.
9. Schoofs, Mark. "Merck Shows AIDS Vaccine's Action In Humans as Scientists Hail Studies," Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2002. Vaccines for AIDS is showing progress and
encouragement. Merek Co. is hoping to develop a preventive vaccine
as opposed to a curing vaccines. The AIDS virus mutates so often
that a cure may never be found. Merek hopes it to prevent the AIDS
virus by inserting a cold virus into the DNA of a AIDS virus, rendering
it unable to be spread. The only problem is that when the cold virus
is injected into the body, the bodies natural immune system could kick
in and kill the cold virus before it is able to do it work. Merek
is testing all types of possibilities to see which one will work the best:
high dosage, cycles, or long treatment. The result may be a combination
of all three. It is getting close to the time when drug companies
have to decide whether they are going to invest time and effort into these
project and if they will experiment with humans.
10.
Alsop, Ronald. "Reputations Rest on Good Service," Wall Street Journal,
January 23, 2002.
11. Mantz, Beth. "ImClone Meeting With FDA On Erbitux Silences Critics," Wall Street Journal Online, February 27, 2002. A meeting was held to determine the fate
of Erbitux and it's effects on cancer. The decision is to decide
whether the results of the treatment were from the chemotherapy or was
it from a combination of both. As a result of the meeting, ImClone
thinks things went very well. The company says it was not the worst
thing that could have happened. They described it as a bump in the
road. Apparently their medicine worked in only 22% of the patents
and there is no hard evidence to prove that it work because of the medicine
or the chemo, or even both.
12.
Twitchell, Evelyn. "Don't Plow Schering Under Just Yet," Wall Street
Journal Online, February 19, 2002.
Scherig is getting more worried by the
moment. There main product, Claritin, has the possibility of becoming
over the counter. This will allow other companies, like Johnson and
Johnson, to sell generic versions. Schering although worried do have
a plan. They plan to market Clarinex to their existing customers
as a change or upgrade. Although they have a patent, it does not
seem like it will hold up. The decision could happen in December.
The more likely scenario would be for the FDA to approve the sale of competitors,
like Johnson and Johnson,
products and allow them to sell them by prescription as well. The
FDA is very hesitant in allowing this product to be sold over the counter.
J & J Company - The article talks about Johnson and Johnson as a company or actions the company takes J & J Investment - The article talks about Johnson and Johnson as an investment J & J Competitor - Talks about Johnson and Johnson's competitors and describes what they are doing
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