Health Winners & Losers: Barrier Therapeutics

Pharma stocks slightly outpaced the wider markets at the start of the week Monday, while biotech stocks stayed relatively in line.

Barrier Therapeutics (BTRX) jumped 129%, or $2.27, to $4.03 after the company announced it will be bought out by private company Stiefel Laboratories in a deal worth roughly $148 million. Stiefel is paying $4.15 a share in cash, a 73% premium to Barrier's average closing price for the last 30 days. The companies expect the deal will close by the end of the third quarter.

In regulatory news, Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said after the closing bell Friday that the Food and Drug Administration will take an additional three months to review blood-clotting drug Promacta, and the new goal date for a decision is Sept. 19.

Ligand shares declined 18 cents, or 6.36%, to $2.65 Monday. Shares had risen more than 50% on May 30 after an FDA advisory panel unanimously voted that the drug demonstrated a favorable risk-benefit profile for the short-term treatment of patients with chronic drug idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura ITP.

Glaxo shares traded up 57 cents, or 1.3%, at $43.89. The stock is a component of the Amex pharmaceutical index which was up 1% at 287.49. The pharma index outperformed the Nasdaq and Amex biotechnology indices, which were down 0.6% and 0.9%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) gave up 69 cents, or 2.2%, landing at $31.17 Monday. Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst David Amsellem downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform, noting the lack of catalysts for the stock until early 2009, when it will seek FDA approval for its multiple sclerosis drug Fampridine-SR.