Wednesday's Health Winners & Losers

Updated from 2:44 p.m. EDT

Investors reacted to PDL BioPharma's(PDLI) refocused business plan, while other health stocks gained on varied news Wednesday.

PDL BioPharma announced a new strategy after Tuesday's close that involved focusing on cancer and select immunological diseases, selling off its Cardene, Retavase and IV Busulfex and its ularitide development-stage cardiovascular products as well as terminating its Nuvion program after study data suggested the drug lacked necessary efficacy and was less safe than the standard treatment.

The stock, which sank $4.80, or 20.3%, to close at $18.80, weighed on the Amex Biotechnology index, which was down earlier before rising 8.04, or 1.1%, to 764.02.

Meanwhile, Simulations Plus(SLP) gained $1.78, or 16.3%, to $12.68. The company, which makes simulation and modeling software for pharmaceutical discovery and development, said the Food and Drug Administration submitted a purchase order for additional licenses for the company's GastroPlus simulation software and new licenses for its DDDPlus in vitro dissolution software for formulation scientists as well.

Also on the upswing was Nymox Pharmaceutical(NYMX), which holds the U.S. and global patent rights for the use of statin drugs to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease, including for patients at risk for the disease because of vascular-related risk factors. The biopharmaceutical company saw shares climb Wednesday by 10 cents, or 1.9%, to close at $5.39, in light of a study published in the August issue of Neurology that found the brains of statin users showed significantly reduced risk of having the typical signs of Alzheimer's disease than nonusers.