Wednesday's Health Winners & Losers

Updated from 1:05 p.m. EST with new stock prices

Subdued biotech stocks approached a day of football and turkey with arguably negative clinical and regulatory updates as well as a $1.65 billion acquisition on their plates.

First the acquisition: GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote) said on Wednesday that it would buy privately held Reliant Pharmaceuticals for $1.65 billion. Reliant, which specializes in cardiovascular therapies, owns the rights to Lozava, an omega-3 treatment for high levels of triglycerides, or fatty substances in the blood associated with coronary artery disease. Reliant recorded net sales of $341 million in the nine months ended September 30.

Glaxo expects the transaction to close before year-end and predicts it will be slightly accretive to earnings in 2008 after integration costs. Glaxo shares were trading down 34 cents, or 0.7%, at $47.87.

In connection with the Glaxo deal, Alkermes(ALKS Quote) announced it will get up to $174 million for its stake in Reliant. Alkermes will use the proceeds and existing cash to repurchase shares of its common stock, possibly even before the Reliant deal closes. Alkermes shares gained 32 cents, or 2.5%, to $13.08.

In clinical news, Vertex Pharmaceuticals(VRTX Quote) said Tuesday after close that its partner Merck(MRK Quote) suspended enrollment in a midstage trial on MK-0457, a potential leukemia treatment, pending a full analysis of all efficacy and safety data.

The suspension came in light of an observed change in one patient's QTc, or a measurement of the time between waves in the heart's electrical cycle. Merck also suspended a recently initiated phase I trial of MK-0457 in combination with cancer drug dasatinib in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).