Wednesday's Health Winners & Losers

Health stocks had an enthusiastic hump day as investors bought into sale talk, regulatory updates, and analyst actions.

Gaining ground Wednesday, biopharmaceutical company QLT(QLTI Quote) said its board of directors formed a special committee of independent directors to review strategic alternatives, including the sale of all or part of the assets of the company. The company said its board is reviewing proposals from several investment bankers and expects to appoint a financial advisor to the committee in the near future. QLT's shares added 99 cents, or 25.5%, to $4.88.

The stock is a component of the Nasdaq biotechnology index, which was up 23.11, or 2.8%, to 855.22.

In regulatory news, Adolor(ADLR Quote) and GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote) said Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration will have a Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee review on Jan. 23 the new-drug application for Entereg, for acceleration of time to upper and lower gastrointestinal recovery following partial large or small bowel resection surgery with primary anastomosis. Adolor's shares gained 42 cents, or 12.6%, to $3.76, while Glaxo added $1.17, or 2.3%, to $51.52.

Also Titan Pharmaceuticals(TTP Quote) said Wednesday that the FDA accepted the new-drug application (NDA) for iloperidone, an investigational treatment for schizophrenia. Titan said the NDA, submitted by Vanda Pharmaceuticals(VNDA Quote), includes data from 35 clinical trials and more than 3,000 patients treated with iloperidone. Titan rose 20 cents, or 12.5% to $1.80, and Vanda edged up 59 cents, or 7.4%, to $8.59.

Elsewhere, Citigroup analyst Andrew Swanson began coverage on Savient Pharmaceuticals(SVNT Quote) with a buy/speculative rating, a price target of $21 and predictions of positive late-stage trial data in December for the company's Puricase for gout, joint inflammation caused by buildup of uric acid. Shares rose $1.96, or 15.9%, to $14.32.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan downgraded Ariad Pharmaceuticals(ARIA Quote) to overweight from neutral. Shares edged down 5 cents, or 1.1%, to $ 4.34.