Bionic Biotech

One of the few companies this year to actually guide
earnings higher, Pharmaceutical Product Development
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is busting above
the top of a recent flag pattern. PPDI surged on one of its biggest volumes ever
on February 1 when it said earnings in the first half of 2001 would be two cents
higher at approximately 56 cents a share. The big volume from earlier this month
is still exerting a positive impact as few traders sold after the high-volume
expansion bar. However, look for additional heavy volume to confirm any break
above the all-time, 58 3/4 high.

PPDI is the world’s fourth largest contract research
organization (CRO) and will no doubt become busier as biotech firms seek to tap
the potential of the human genome. The complete human genome map and sequence
derived by Celera
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and the government-sponsored Human Genome Project
will be formally published in two scientific journals this week. The publication
revealed that there are only one-third as many human genes as originally
thought. The lower number is a plus for biotechnology companies such as PPDI
because it makes their job of finding disease-causing genes
smaller and easier.

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