Friday's Health Winners & Losers

A regulatory warning and earnings moved health stocks on Friday as indices fared flat-to-down.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that Allergan's (AGN) Botox and Botox Cosmetic as well as Solstice Neuroscience's Myobloc have been linked to adverse reactions including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses.

The agency said the reactions may be related to overdosing and were found in both FDA-approved and nonapproved usages, but there is no evidence that they're related to any defect in the products.

The most severe adverse effects were found in children treated for spasticity in their limbs associated with cerebral palsy, which isn't an FDA-approved use of botulism toxins in children or adults.

The agency is currently reviewing safety data from clinical studies submitted by the drugs' manufacturers, as well as post-marketing adverse event reports and medical literature.

Allergan shares fell $3.31, or 5%, to $64. Also Medicis (MRX), which is seeking approval for its Botox competitor Reloxin, saw shares fall 95 cents, or 4.1%, to $21.99.

On the rising side, Labopharm (DDSS) announced Friday that in a late-stage study patients on once-daily antidepressent trazodone showed a statistically significant improvement in patient sleep patterns. The company said it intends to file a new-drug application for the drug with the FDA later this year. Trazodone is already approved in a twice-daily version by the FDA to treat depression. Shares rose 37 cents, or 18.7%, to $2.35.

Other stocks were moving on earnings: Luminex (LMNX) said Thursday post-close that in light of a $11.5 million legal settlement with RBM, fourth-quarter profit was $11.1 million, or 30 cents a share, vs. $600,000 or 2 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue increased 51% to $21.5 million from $14.2 million last year, just above the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial who'd predicted $21 million.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $2.7 million, or 8 cents a share, on revenue that rose 42% to $75 million.

Shares were up 65 cents, or 4%, to $17 Friday.

InterMune (ITMN) said Thursday post-close that its fourth-quarter loss widened to $25.8 million, or 66 cents a share, from $21.5 million, or 64 cents a share, in the year earlier.

Revenue fell to $9.6 million from $19.8 million feeling the impact of a drop in sales of immune-system boosting drug Actimmune to $8.8 million from $19.4 million. Shares were down 60 cents, or 3.7%, to $15.78 on Friday.

Heading in the opposite direction, Alnylam (ALNY) said Thursday post-close that its RNA-interference technology team-up with Roche (announced last July in a deal worth up to $1 billion) led to a fourth-quarter profit. The company earned $1.7 million, or 4 cents a share, vs. a loss of $8.4 million, or 26 cents a share, in the comparable year-ago quarter. Revenue climbed to $18.2 million from $7 million.

For the full year, the company reported a loss of $85.5 million, or $2.21 a share, vs. a loss of $34.6 million, or $1.09 a share, the prior year. Alnylam reported revenue of $50.9 million vs. $26.9 million in 2006.

Caris & Co. analyst Douglas Chow raised his rating on the stock to above average from average on Friday. Shares were trading up $2.21, or 7.3%, to $32.54. The stock is a component of the Nasdaq biotechnology index, which was down 6.73, or 0.8%, to 794.24.

Elsewhere, Punk, Ziegel & Co lowered its price target for Micrus Endovascular (MEND) to $19 from $25. The stock was trading down 61 cents, or 3.7%, to $15.95.

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