ADRs End Slightly Higher; AstraZeneca PLC, British American Tobacco and Novartis Trade Actively

International stocks trading in New York closed slightly higher on Tuesday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 0.02% to 138.23. The European index increased 0.4% to 129.02. The Asian index decreased 0.7% to 159.31. The Latin American index fell 0.1% to 236.06. And the emerging-markets index decreased 0.6% to 289.85.

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), British American Tobacco PLC (BTI) and Novartis AG (NVS) were among those with ADRs that traded actively.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to AstraZeneca and Merck & Co. Inc.'s (MRK) Lynparza to treat pancreatic cancer, AstraZeneca said Tuesday. Orphan drug designation is given to medicines that aim to treat rare diseases and provides benefits such as market exclusivity and tax breaks. Lynparza was previously granted orphan drug status for ovarian cancer, as well as fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer. Lynparza is being developed by AstraZeneca and Merck & Co. as part of a strategic collaboration in the field of oncology. It is currently undergoing a phase 3 trial, with results expected in the first half of 2019. ADRs of AstraZeneca were up 4.3% to $39.08.

British American Tobacco's latest trading update was mixed but the negative elements were foreseeable, Jefferies says. The investment bank says BAT has cut its revenue target for next-generation products, slowed down its deleveraging program and guided for higher currency headwinds. However, Jefferies says most of those negatives were already expected. On the positive side, BAT has raised its earnings-growth expectations and is taking market share in a number of areas, Jefferies says. ADRS of British American Tobacco were down 3.4% to $41.92.

Novartis is due to present five-year phase 3 extension data on its drug Cosentyx for patients with two long-term, progressive and debilitating conditions, the company said Tuesday. The two conditions are psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, and the findings of the phase 3 trial extensions will be presented later this month at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Chicago. Data from one of the two studies shows that 83% and 94% of psoriatic arthritis patients experienced total resolution for two different debilitating symptoms, respectively. More than 80% of the patients who entered the extensions to the trials completed five years in them. Safety profiles were consistent with previous findings, the company said. Novartis reports third-quarter earnings on Thursday. ADRs of Novartis rose 3.1% to $85.72.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 16, 2018 17:13 ET (21:13 GMT)

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