The head of local clinical testing and medical marketing firm Kendle International Inc. Thursday told investors that the recent decline in the company's stock price is temporary.

        “We expect ... to regain the momentum we experienced throughout 2001,” company chairwoman and chief executive officer Candace Kendle said at Kendle's annual shareholders meeting at the Aronoff Center. “We are confident in our ability to effectively manage this temporary setback and are very optimistic about Kendle's prospects.”

        The company's stock was downgraded by two key analysts earlier this month, sparking a sell-off. Shares declined from a 52-week high of $21.30 Oct. 2 to $10.77 Thursday. dropping more than $7 at one point this month.

        The ratings were changed primarily because of what appears to be advance orders behind the same levels at this same time last year. But Dr. Kendle said those were primarily from two areas that normally see short-term volatility.

        “The rest of our businesses are performing on target,” Dr. Kendle said. “The fluctuations (in orders) are something you can manage most of the time, but they're always going to be there.”

        Company officials restated their predictions that Kendle would earn between 65 and 70 cents a share for the year.

        Dr. Kendle also said the company was looking into expanding into drug research, primarily animal research that is done before a drug goes through the human trial process. In addition, Kendle is looking at expanding early-stage testing for generic drugs, and expanding its medical marketing consulting business.

        She also said the company was seeing strong results from its Internet applications Trial Web, which allows researchers in different locations to track results over the World Wide Web; and e-Kendle College, an internal remote training program.

        The company said the college had allowed the training budget to be cut by 50 percent, while cutting travel expenses related to training by 75 percent.

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