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Health Winners & Losers: Insmed

Elizabeth Trotta

Health stocks managed to stay in the green Thursday amid -- and in some cases despite -- regulatory, business and clinical news.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel determined that patients taking anti-seizure drugs are at higher risk of having suicidal tendencies. The agency was set to vote later in the day on whether to recommend black box warnings for such drugs and whether the findings apply to only the drugs the government considered in a 200-study analysis -- the findings of which were the basis of the panel.

Big Pharma companies like Pfizer (PFE Quote), Merck (MRK Quote) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK Quote), among others, all market anti-seizure drugs. Those stocks traded up 0.1%, down 0.2%, and down 0.3%, respectively. They are all components of the Amex pharmaceutical index, which was up 0.4% at 306.38.

In business news, Novartis AG (NVS Quote) said Thursday it upped its stake in Swiss pharmaceutical maker Speedel Holding AG to 61.4% from 9.7% and plans buy the remaining portion in a mandatory public tender offer. Novartis said the total buyout is valued at $880 million. The combination of the companies, which are jointly developing blood pressure drug Tekturna, should result in savings of about $30 million a year, it said.

Novartis, which saw shares edged up 52 cents, or 0.9%, to $58.21, said earlier in the week that it completed the first step toward a majority stake in Swiss company Alcon (ACL Quote).

Myriad Genetics (MYGN Quote) continued to rise Thursday, adding $4.69, or 8.8%, to $57.95. The stock is up more than 10% for the week as investors continue to brush off news a week earlier that the company would scrap development of its experimental Alzheimer's treatment Flurizan after a failed trial.

Myriad won't be making money from the drug, of course, but it also won't be losing money from it either. The company had signed a license agreement with Danish drugmaker Lundbeck, including a $100 million upfront payment. That helps to cover the $60 million Myriad said it spent on Flurizan's development and the $8 million it said it will cost to wrap up the clinical work.

And on the clinical side, Insmed (INSM Quote) said Thursday that it demonstrated the bioequivalence of its INS-19 compared to Amgen's (AMGN Quote) Neupogen in a small study. Neupogen is an FDA-approved product to treat neutropenia, or low white blood cell count. It recorded sales of roughly $1 billion in 2007.

Insmed will now meet with the FDA to discuss plans for a late stage study on its generic form of the Neupogen. Insmed shares edged up 6 cents, or 15%, to 46 cents. Amgen shares rose 84 cents, or 1.7%, to $51.69.

Last, in analyst actions, UBS upgraded Elan (ELN Quote) to neutral from sell. Its shares added 83 cents, or 2.3%, to $36.82.