Health Winners and Losers: Lilly's New Big Mac

Updated from 1:49 p.m. EST

Shares of drug company Eli Lilly(LLY Quote), which announced it had named Big Mac maker McDonald's (MCD Quote) Chief Operating Officer Ralph Alvarez to its board, were falling 0.5% to $34.40.

"Ralph truly understands and appreciates the value of building a successful, global customer-focused enterprise," said Lilly CEO John Lechleiter in a press release Wednesday. "His experience and insights will surely benefit Lilly shareholders as we continue to transform our company and deliver on our mission to provide improved outcomes for individual patients."

GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote) shares rose 0.8% to $33.68 a day after an announcement that it had paid Synta Pharmaceuticals(SNTA Quote) $10 million for an operational milestone of cancer drug elesclomol.

Meanwhile, shares of Pfizer(PFE Quote) fell 0.6% to $14.16 after a Wisconsin jury ruled late Monday that a company it had acquired had violated the state's Medicaid laws for years.

Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY Quote) was falling 1.6% to $20.92, and Merck(MRK Quote) was hovering near the flat line at $28.64.