Health Winners & Losers: Exelixis

Health stocks closed out the week on a bright note, outperforming the broader markets Friday and airing scattered business, regulatory and clinical news.

Exelixis (EXEL Quote) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK Quote) said early Friday that they will not extend their cancer compound collaboration. Under the terms of the six-year agreement that's wrapping up, Glaxo will retain the option to further develop one of five cancer compounds in Exelixis' early clinical development. Exelixis has the right to develop and commercialize those not selected by Glaxo.

Exelixis shares fell 13 cents, or 2.5%, to $5.09, while Glaxo shares edged down 36 cents, or 0.8%, to $43.94.

Merck (MRK Quote) and Schering-Plough (SGP Quote) said Friday that they are ending a joint venture allergy drug that combined Singulair and Claritan two months after the Food and Drug Administration rejected the drug's application. Merck will pay Schering $105 million as part of the termination of the agreement.

Separately, Merck said that in a phase III trial its investigational drug telcagepant improved relief of migraine pain and migraine-associated symptoms two hours after dosing compared to placebo. The company said at the American Headache Society (AHS) annual meeting that the results were similar to the highest recommended dose of AstraZeneca's (AZN Quote) Zomig. Merck plans to file a new-drug application for telcagepant with the FDA in 2009.

Merck shares were up 92 cents, or 2.5%, at $37.12, while Schering shares rose 63 cents, or 3.3%, to $19.61. Both stocks are components of the Amex pharmaceutical index, which edged up 0.1% to 287.22.