Thursday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

Shares of Medivation(MDV) were among the small-cap winners Thursday, soaring some 35% after the San Francisco-based biotech reported good results for its Dimebon drug.

The proprietary drug met all five efficacy endpoints in a phase II clinical study of 183 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. The six-month study was conducted at 11 sites in Russia.

The company said Dimebon was well-tolerated in the study, with fewer serious adverse events in Dimebon-treated patients than in placebo-treated patients. Shares were climbing $1.80, or nearly 30%, to $7.85 recently.

Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp.(NCST) plummeted 24% Thursday after the Wakefield, Mass.-based biotech said its atopic dermatitis treatment failed to show efficacy in a phase II clinical trial.

The company said it plans to continue efforts to develop NPI 32101 for a variety of disease conditions. In addition, the company was downgraded by Canaccord Adams to hold from buy. Shares were tumbling $2.60 to $8.15.

Keane(KEA) stumbled 5% after the Boston-based business process and information technology services firm was downgraded by Wachovia(WB) to market perform from outperform. Shares slipped 77 cents to $14.60 in recent trading.