Health Winners & Losers: Vertex
09/22/08 - 04:22 PM EDT
Elizabeth Trotta
The broader market climate depressed biotech and pharmaceutical stocks at the start of the week.
The Nasdaq and Amex biotechnology indices were down 2.5% and 2.7%, respectively, while the Amex Pharmaceutical Index was down 1.1%. Big pharma stocks Pfizer (PFE Quote - Cramer on PFE - Stock Picks) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ Quote - Cramer on JNJ - Stock Picks) were down more than 2% each. Bellwether biotechs Amgen (AMGN Quote - Cramer on AMGN - Stock Picks) and Biogen (BIIB Quote - Cramer on BIIB - Stock Picks) were down more than 3.7%, while Celgene(CELG Quote - Cramer on CELG - Stock Picks) shed 5.8% to $64.01. Fellow component Vertex (VRTX Quote - Cramer on VRTX - Stock Picks) gave up 5.4%. Vertex expanded its stock sale on Monday, granting an underwriter its option to purchase 1.125 million shares at $25.50 a share. This brings the total shares to be sold in the offering to 8.625 million. Vertex expects to receive $220 million in proceeds before commissions and expenses. The company previously announced it planned to raise $191 million through the offering. Shares were down $1.21, or 4.1%, at $28.04. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies continue on the acquisition trail.Sanofi-Aventis (SNY Quote - Cramer on SNY - Stock Picks) raised its bid for Czech company Zentiva N.V. by 9.5% to roughly $2.6 billion, winning approval from the generic drugmaker's board. Sanofi's shares were down 3.2%, at $33.35 on Monday. In legal news, Ariad Pharmaceuticals (ARIA Quote - Cramer on ARIA - Stock Picks) said Monday that a court granted Amgen's motion for a summary judgment of non-infringement of seven claims of a patent based on its relationship to Amgen's anemia drug Enbrel. Ariad's shares were off by 6.1% to $2.79. Last, Genzyme (GENZ Quote - Cramer on GENZ - Stock Picks) announced the opening of a new early stage research center in Framingham, Mass. Scientists will focus on discovering treatments for such things as genetic diseases, cancer, immune diseases, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, endocrinology and neurological disorders. At capacity, roughly 350 employees will occupy the 180,000 square foot facility, which cost $125 million.
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