Friday's Health Winners & Losers

Critical Therapeutics'(CRTX Quote) shares sank after the company reported disappointing clinical trial results on its anti-inflammatory drug for cardiac surgery patients. Shares fell 4.3% to $2.70.

King Pharmaceuticals(KG Quote) fell after disappointing trial data were released. According to a study presented in a meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the incidence of type 2 diabetes development wasn't significantly different between patients taking the company's drug Ramipril compared with those taking a placebo. Shares were down 3% to $16.05.

Barrier Therapeutics(BTRX Quote) rose after the company said it's planning a private stock offering worth $25 million. The company plans to sell around 4.8 million shares at $5.25 each to institutional investors. Shares were trading 4.3% higher at $5.64.

Schering-Plough's(SGP Quote) shares advanced after a report that the company is "seriously considering" an attempt to merge with another drug giant, Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY Quote). Schering was up 1.3% to $21.40, and Bristol's shares were up 1.6% to $25.08.

Genentech(DNA Quote) gained 1.5% to $79.29 after Caris initiated coverage of the stock with a strong buy rating.

Other movers were Exact Sciences(EXAS Quote), whose shares gained 14.8% to $2.80, Novogen(NVGN Quote), up 7.9% to $10.53, ViroPharma(VPHM Quote), ahead by 1.4% to $12.63, and Marshall Edwards(MSHL Quote), 6.8% higher to $3.

GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote) slipped 0.5% to $55.11, Senesco Technologies(SNT Quote) was down 7.1% to $1.19, Lannett(LCI Quote) was sinking 8.5% to $5.17, NitroMed(NTMD Quote) was 5.3% lower to $2.48, and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals(KERX Quote) was down 2.9% to $13.01.