The latest Market Talks covering the Health Care sector. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
0817 GMT - AstraZeneca PLC's antibody cocktail AZD7442 could help nonhospitalized patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 avoid more severe illness, the drugmaker says in summarized, preliminary trial results. Last week, AstraZeneca asked for U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization to use the antibody combination for a different purpose, as a preventative shot against symptomatic Covid-19, like a vaccine. Now the company says AZD7442 might also help treat mild to moderate cases in people already infected. Top-line results show it reduced the risk of severe Covid-19 or death by between 50% and 67% if administered within a week after symptoms showed. The company says it's discussing findings with regulators. Full trial results haven't been reviewed by independent researchers or published. (jenny.strasburg@wsj.com)
0625 GMT - Shares of Bayer are expected to trade higher on Monday after Bloomberg reported details about the German chemicals and pharmaceuticals company's planned sale of its pest-control unit, called Environmental Science Professional. The unit is attracting interest from investors such as Bain and Cinven and its price tag would be about EUR2 billion, according to the news outlet. (thomas.leppert@wsj.com)
0500 GMT - Raffles Medical Group is likely to benefit from the further reopening of Singapore's borders, given it is the sole provider of Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction tests at the country's Changi Airport, RHB Research says. The conversion of the Connect@Changi business facility into a Covid-19 community-care facility should also support near-term revenue growth, the broker says. The likely return of walk-in patients to clinics and inflow of more foreign patients into Singapore could further help, RHB Research says. It keeps a buy call on Raffles Medical and raises the target price to S$1.65 from S$1.45. Shares fall 1.3% to S$1.46. (yongchang.chin@wsj.com)
0333 GMT - Hartalega Holdings' strong earnings performance for FY 2022 is unlikely to be sustainable, as average selling prices have been trending downward since May on rising competition, especially in the nitrile glove segment, says Maybank IB Research. It says China is a threat that cannot be ignored, as Chinese glove makers' aggressive capacity expansion likely led to oversupply by 2023. Maybank reduces forecasts for the glove maker's earnings by 1%-62% for FY 2022-2024 after lowering plant utilization rate and average selling prices assumptions. Maybank downgrades its rating on the stock from hold to sell and cuts its target price from MYR6.74 to MYR3.99. Shares are 1.4% lower at MYR5.81. (chester.tay@wsj.com)
