Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Chuckles from thestreet.com:

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/markets/dumbestgm/10148297.html

>>
Shares in Sanofi-Synthelabo (SNY:NYSE ADR) enjoyed a nice little jump this week after the company said its new drug, rimonabant, could cure hair loss.

OK. OK. We made that part up. The French pharmaceutical company didn't make that particular claim for rimonabant. But, given all the other claims made for this wonder drug in the making, it's probably just a matter of time.

As we learned from an S-S announcement this week, rimonabant helps people quit smoking. It helps people lose weight. It increases "good" cholesterol. And it reduces abdominal fat.

Yes, take this pill and get rock-hard abs.

It all seems too good to be true, which is why we at the lab wonder why anyone expects it to be so.

But then we have a horrifying thought. What if this drug works? What if it makes it through the Food and Drug Administration approval process? What if it does everything it's supposed to do without causing bizarre side effects like garlic breath and blue skin?

The $40 billion weight loss industry (as per the Jenny Craig): gone. The $15 billion diet soft drink business: gone. The $13.5 million health club industry: gone. The $31 billion tobacco industry: gone. The billions more spent on health care to deal with the effects of obesity and smoking: gone.

We suspect that what we have here is a Gallic conspiracy to destroy the U.S. economy. For the sake of the nation, somebody better stop the French before things get out of hand.
<<