Thursday's Health Winners & Losers

A few larger biotechs dumped their smaller co-developers on Thursday, sending shares into the red, while others had fresh relationships and deals to discuss.

Altus Pharmaceuticals (ALTU) tumbled $3.94, or 40%, to $5.96 Thursday. After the close on Wednesday, the company said that it's regaining the North American commercialization rights to ALTU-238, a once-weekly IV human growth hormone product that uses its drug delivery technology, from Genentech (DNA). Altus said it still plans to resume clinical study of the drug, which is in midstage development, in mid-2008.

Genentech was trading up 68 cents, or 1.01%, at 67.97 on Thursday.

Also on the decline on Thursday, Array BioPharma (ARRY), which delivered disappointing news on Wednesday after the closing bell. Array said that AZD6244, an experimental treatment for advanced melanoma, failed to meet its primary goal in a midstage trial. Subsequently, its co-developer AstraZeneca (AZN) has opted not to take the drug to late-stage development. Array slid $3, or 27%, to $8.02, and Astra Zeneca was trading down 38 cents, or 0.9%, to $43.94.

Array is a component of the Nasdaq biotechnology index, which was flat most of the day, up just 0.24, or 0.03%, at 834.78 in recent trading.

Also on the clinical side, Introgen Therapeutics (INGN) said it will increase the tissue samples in a late stage study for its Advexin. This drug is for head and neck cancer and the effect of the increase will allow the total data reviewed for biomarker analyses to rise by at least 20%, per recommendation by external clinical and regulatory advisers. The company expects to announce top-line phase III data and file regulatory applications for Advexin for head and neck cancer in the first half of 2008.