FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - In the weak healthcare sector across Europe, shares of Qiagen and Merck KGaA also slid significantly on Friday following another profit warning from Sartorius and its subsidiary Sartorius Stedim Biotech. At 36.41 euros, Qiagen reached a new low for around three years. Merck KGaA marked its lowest level since mid-July, remaining just above its low for the year.

In the afternoon, shares of diagnostics specialist Qiagen fell 3.1 percent, while those of pharmaceutical and chemical group Merck KGaA dropped 3.4 percent. They were thus among the biggest losers in the somewhat weaker DAX after Sartorius, which fell ten percent. Since the beginning of the year, they have also been among the biggest losers in the leading index, with Qiagen down 22.5 percent and Merck down a good 17 percent.

The European pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, in which Evotec and Carl Zeiss Meditec were also very weak, was recently down 1.2 percent. Morphosys, however, shone here at the top with a plus of six percent after a turnaround in the valuation by Morgan Stanley./ajx/ag/men