Health Care
Monday's Health Winners & Losers
Robert Holmes
03/26/07 - 01:29 PM EDT
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) was one of Monday's winners, a day after the company reported positive results from a clinical trial of its Xience drug-coated stent, clearing an important hurdle on the path to Food and Drug Administration approval. Abbott was recently adding $2.07, or 3.8%, to $55.93.
Meanwhile, shares of Boston Scientific (BSX) slid more than 5% after the performance of Abbott's Xience stent was deemed superior to that of Boston Scientific's Taxus stent in a study. Lately, the stock was off 77 cents, or 5.1%, to $14.45.
Osiris Therapeutics (OSIR) jumped after the company reported positive safety and efficacy data on Sunday from a phase I study of its adult stem-cell therapy, Provacel, in patients with heart disease. Osiris was higher by $2, or 11.2%, at $19.90.
Shares of Merck (MRK) were easing after the company announced a joint venture with Schering-Plough (SGP) that will combine the cholesterol drug Lipitor with Zetia. Merck was losing 28 cents, or 0.6%, to $44.17.
Meanwhile, Schering-Plough was adding 52 cents, or 2.1%, to $25.14. Pfizer (PFE), which holds the patent for Lipitor until 2010, was recently down 16 cents, or 0.6%, to $25.50.
Elsewhere, Biosite (BSTE) soared 51.3% after Beckman Coulter (BEC) said it will acquire the company. Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) was rising 10.6% to $44.30.
Among decliners, CV Therapeutics (CVTX) dropped 20% to $6.86 on a downgrade by Deutsche Securities. Express Scripts (MDT) was sliding 1.8% to $82.16. Medtronic (MDT) was down 1.3% to $49.26.