1Q Financial Markets Review: Hoping for backloading

Going into 2002, investors already knew that the most of the key milestones for the industry lay in the back half of the year. What they couldn't know is how deep in the hole the group would dig itself during the first 13 weeks of 2002. So, given one of the worst starts in the sector's history, investors may be excused for re-assessing whether the industry has enough key milestones to right the ship over the remaining nine months of the year.

The good news in the first quarter was the widely anticipated approvals of Neulasta G-CSF to reduce infections in patients with non-myeloid malignancies undergoing myelosuppressoressive therapy from Amgen Inc. (AMGN, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Zevalin ibritumomab tiuxetan to treat Rituxan-refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma from Idec Pharmaceuticals Corp. (IDPH, La Jolla, Calif.)...