Monday's Health Winners & Losers

Shares of BriteSmile(BSML) were among the best-performing health-related stocks Monday, climbing 17% after the seller of teeth-whitening technology said its board rejected an unsolicited buyout offer by privately held Futuredontics.

The unsolicited offer, which was first disclosed on June 9, was rejected "because Futuredontics had advised BriteSmile that it does not have the funds required to complete the transaction," BriteSmile said. BriteSmile also said that the formal offer, which was dated June 5, was not appealing to a majority of its own shareholders. Had the deal, which was valued at $4 a share, gone through, BriteSmile shareholders would have received $2 a share in cash and $2 in Futuredontics stock for each share of BriteSmile that they owned. Shares of BriteSmile were trading up 36 cents to $2.25.

Shares of Pozen(POZN), which were hammered Friday after the company said the Food and Drug Administration requested additional safety information on its migraine headache treatment, bounced back somewhat on Monday after analysts defended the stock. An analyst at HSBC Global Research raised his stock rating to overweight from neutral, saying that the shares represent a high-risk opportunity. The firm, however, did lower its price target on the stock to $11.50 from $15.50, reflecting a delay in the launch of Trexima.

Meanwhile, Jefferies & Co. analyst Eun K. Yang, who has a buy rating on the stock, said Pozen's current valuation assumes an about 10% probability for Trexima's eventual success, with a lengthy delay. "As we don't know the exact nature of the requested safety information at present, incremental positive news events will likely provide upside from current levels," Yang wrote in a research note to clients. Still, as a result of the launch delay, the firm lowered its price target on the stock to $15 from $25. Yang now believes that Trexima will reach the market in early 2008. Shares of Pozen recently were up 57 cents, or 10%, to $6.09.