Health Stocks: Abbott, Glaxo and Pig Flu

Updated from 5:45 p.m. EDT

Abbott Laboratories(ABT Quote) announced Friday that its shareholders rejected a "say on pay" measure during their annual meeting.

According to the company, a majority of shareholders voted against proposals calling for a nonbinding vote on executive compensation, similar to the proposal approved by Pfizer(PFE Quote) shareholders Thursday. Abbott shareholders also rejected proposals regarding animal testing and health care principles. Abbott shares ended Friday trading down 0.6% to $43.09. Pfizer closed down 0.8% to $13.17.

In other news, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a Johnson & Johnson(JNJ Quote) arthritis drug. The drug, Simponi, is intended to treat three forms of arthritis caused by immune system disorders, and is a sequel to the drug Remicade, which Johnson & Johnson markets in the U.S. and Schering-Plough(SGP Quote) markets elsewhere. According to The Associated Press, Merck(MRK Quote) is buying Schering in part because of the money Simponi - sales of which Schering would share -- and Remicade, are expected to generate. J&J shares ended Friday trading down 0.9% to $50.92. Schering ended up 1.3% to $22.17. Merck closed up 1% at $23.45.

Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote) and Roche have been contacted by the World Health Organization regarding their flu treatments amid an outbreak of swine flu that has killed at least 20 people in Mexico, according to The Associated Press. According to the AP, Roche says it has an emergency stockpile of Tamiflu on standby, and Glaxo, which makes Relenza, has been in touch with the WHO to identify what strain is involved.

Swine flu, a respiratory disease caused by influenza A virus that causes outbreaks in pigs, doesn't usually infect humans. However, human infections can occur, and human-to-human transmission is possible, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC said that since March 2009, human cases of a news strain of swine flu have been confirmed in Texas, California and Mexico.

Glaxo shares ended the day up 0.8% to $29.34.