Health Winners & Losers: Biogen Idec, Elan
08/26/08 - 06:05 PM EDT
Elizabeth Trotta
After a nice rise early in the day, health stocks settled back into neutral territory on Tuesday.
The Nasdaq biotechnology index landed up 0.2% while the Amex index gave up 0.2%. A few regulatory items peppered otherwise light news. Amylin (AMLN Quote - Cramer on AMLN - Stock Picks) and Eli Lilly(LLY Quote - Cramer on LLY - Stock Picks) investors waited Tuesday for a 5 p.m. EDT conference call. The companies said late Monday that they would discuss a Food and Drug Administration advisory on diabetes drug Byetta. Last week regulators warned that the drug could be linked to six cases of severe pancreatitis, two of which resulted in deaths. The FDA said it was working with the companies to add stronger warnings in the product label around the risk of necrotizing or acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis. Amylin shares were off by 53 cents, or 1.9%, at $27.24, while Lilly shares crept down 50 cents, or 1.05%, to $47.02. Also late Monday, the FDA said it was updating the prescribing information for Biogen Idec(BIIB Quote - Cramer on BIIB - Stock Picks) and Elan's(ELN Quote - Cramer on ELN - Stock Picks) Multiple Sclerosis (MS) drug Tysabri after two confirmed cases of a deadly brain infection. Regulators said the label will now include the risk of progressive PML with Tysabri when it's used alone. PML is a known risk of Tysabri, but previous cases in patients with MS were seen in combination with other therapies that affect the immune system. Regulators said they still believe Tysabri monotherapy may have a lower risk of PML than when the drug is used with other immunomodulatory medications. Biogen's shares were down $1.39, or 2.6%, at $52.09, while Elan gave up 17 cents, or 1.2%, to $14.08.
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