Health Winners & Losers: Isis

Isis climbs on news it will benefit financially from a deal between Alnylam and Takeda.
By Elizabeth Trotta ,

Health stocks followed the broader markets on light news to start the holiday-shortened trading week Tuesday.

The health indices reached a bit of green, with the Nasdaq and Amex biotechnology index up 1.2% and 0.7%, and the Amex pharmaceutical index up 0.2%.

Biotechs

Amgen

(AMGN) - Get Report

and

Biogen Idec

(BIIB) - Get Report

, among those ticking up, climbed 1.6% and 1.9% respectively. While hepatitis C company

Vertex

(VRTX) - Get Report

recorded a 3.1% gain.

Among the better-performing Big Pharma stocks at the start of the short week:

King Pharmaceuticals

(KG)

added 2.3% and

Schering-Plough

(SGP)

added 4.2%. On the red end,

Pfizer

(PFE) - Get Report

and

GlaxoSmithKline

(GSK) - Get Report

gave up 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.

In the news,

Alnylam

(ALNY) - Get Report

and

Takeda

announced a

deal on RNAi therapeutics

(gene silencing biotechnology). Takeda will get access Alnylam's technology and intellectual property in oncology and metabolic diseases, with the option to expand into other indications.

Alnylam will get opt-in options to co-develop and co-commercialize Takeda RNAi therapeutic programs in the U.S. on a 50-50 basis, $100 million upfront, $50 million in near-term technology transfer payments, and potential future milestones worth up to $1 billion, according to the company.

Isis

(ISIS)

, which licensed intellectual property for double-stranded oligonucleotide therapeutics that mediate RNAi to Alnylam in 2004, will receive $4.6 million from the Alnylam and Takeda transaction and may receive portions of milestones.

Alnylam shares were down $1, or 3.4%, to $28.45, while Isis shares rose 73 cents, or 5.8%, to $13.37.

Elsewhere, small-cap biotechnology company

Favrille

(FVRL)

tanked Tuesday after a phase III registration study on the company's Specifid in patients with follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma failed to meet its primary endpoint. Specifically, when given with

Bayer's

Leukine following

Genentech

(DNA)

and Biogen Idec's Rituxan the drug didn't show an improvement in time to progression compared to Leukine and a placebo following Rituxan.

Based on the results, the company said it is discontinuing development of Specifid and is evaluating steps to conserve cash and recognize value on its assets. Shares fell 87.4%, or $1.52, to 22 cents.

Alkermes

(ALKS) - Get Report

spent another day in the red, still on the decline after its earnings and guidance suffered the end of a inhaled insulin collaboration with

Eli Lilly

(LLY) - Get Report

. Shares were down another 80 cents, or 6.3%, at $11.95 Tuesday after losing 6% the last regular trading day.

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