THIRD TEAM

Amit Roy & team Nomura International

Down one rung to third place after two years at No. 2, Amit Roy’s team of three analysts at Nomura International nonetheless remain “the gods of clinical trials,” according to one portfolio manager. In August the team reiterated its sell rating on AstraZeneca, at 3,238p, on the belief that the London-based pharmaceuticals manufacturer’s heart drug Brilinta would have difficulty winning approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, owing to results of a clinical trial released a few days earlier which showed that North American patients responded differently to the drug than their European counterparts. In December the FDA announced that it would not approve Brilinta for use in the U.S. until it had a chance to review more clinical data. By the end of the year, AstraZeneca’s shares had slid 9.8 percent, to 2,922p.