Winners & Losers

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Friday's Health Winners & Losers

Robert Holmes

Medical-device makers were among the best health care performers of Friday's session.

Stryker (SYK Quote), which fell on Thursday despite beating first-quarter earnings targets, today closed up 1.2% to $67. Boston Scientific (BSX Quote) added 2.3%, and Medtronic (MDT Quote) gained 1.2%.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVNR Quote) continued its recent march higher. Avanir has soared about 265% this week. On Wednesday, the company said it saw positive results from a late-stage clinical trial for diabetic neuropathic pain drug Zenvia. Avanir closed up 50 cents, or 12.8%, to $4.40.

Monogram Biosciences (MGRM Quote) was also riding momentum. Thomas Weisel Partners, which began coverage of the stock recently with a rating of market weight, said Monogram's revenue will continue to climb into 2008. The stock, which is up 23% for the week, closed up 23 cents, or 11.1%, to $2.31.

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, of which both Avanir and Monogram are components, was higher by only 0.6%. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index was up 0.5%, despite a number of components losing ground.

Shares of Merck (MRK Quote) were 2.7% higher after Prudential upped its stock price target for the drugmaker to $55 from $48.

But rival Schering-Plough (SGP Quote) slid after both AG Edwards and HSBC Securities downgraded the stock. Schering-Plough was down 29 cents, or 0.9%, to $30.71.

Also among losers, Pfizer (PFE Quote) said its most-recent quarter was better than expected, but the drugmaker took down its full-year forecast for profits, the low end of which would be more than 10 cents short of what Wall Street wanted to see. Pfizer was off 0.4% to $26.97.

Other pharmaceutical companies were mixed. AstraZeneca (AZN Quote) was up 1.1%, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY Quote) was up 0.9%, and Eli Lilly (LLY Quote) gained 0.9%.

Elsewhere, Amgen (AMGN Quote) was down 0.6%, Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA Quote) was down 0.9%, and Wyeth (WYE Quote) was up 0.3%.