Health Stocks in Motion

Durect rises after licensing pain-relief patch to Endo.
By Mark Martinez ,

Updated from 2:33 p.m. EST

Shares of

Durect

(DRRX) - Get Report

were among the best-performing health-related stocks Monday, rising 7.1% after the company licensed its pain-relief patch to

Endo Pharmaceuticals

(ENDP) - Get Report

.

Durect will be paid $10 million plus royalties and be eligible for additional payments totaling $35 million if certain milestones are reached. The exclusive license agreement will allow Endo to develop and commercialize the patch, which is still in early-stage clinical development, in the United States and Canada. Endo will assume all remaining development and responsibility for regulatory filings. Shares of Durect traded up 24 cents to $3.60. Endo traded up 19 cents to $22.25.

Dusa Pharmaceuticals

(DUSA) - Get Report

fell 3.1% after the company said its fourth-quarter loss widened from a year ago. The biopharmaceutical company lost $4.1 million, or 24 cents a share, on product sales of $2.55 million. A year ago, the company posted a loss of $3.77 million, or 27 cents a share, on sales of $516,000. For the full year, Dusa posted a loss of $15.6 million, or 96 cents a share, on sales of $8 million. A year ago, the company posted a loss of $14.8 million, or $1.06 a share, on sales of $970,000. The year-over-year sales gain was due to a big jump in Kerastick sales. Dusa said that Kerastick sales must grow significantly if the company hopes to become a profitable operating company. Shares traded down 35 cents to $10.95.

Shares of

Impax Laboratories

(IPXL)

rose modestly after the company said that it would delay its annual report. Impax plans to file a notification of late filing with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

and expects to provide its annual report within the 15-day extension period permitted by the SEC. The extension will allow the company to "investigate and evaluate potential material weaknesses or potential significant deficiencies in connection with the internal 404 evaluation," it said. Impax said the financial restatements announced last quarter have increased the complexity and scope of its year-end audit. The company is also reviewing information from its strategic partner

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

(TEVA) - Get Report

that relates to commercial products sold under its agreement with Teva. Shares traded up 7 cents to $17.90.

Cigna

(CI) - Get Report

fell 0.8% after the insurer reiterated its 2005 outlook on earnings and reconfirmed its membership results. Cigna made the disclosure in a regulatory filing because it said that it expected to confirm the information with an analyst and certain investors on Monday and during phone calls this week. Excluding items and investment results, Cigna expects to post income from operations of $745 million to $815 million. Shares traded down 65 cents to $86.55.

Other health care movers included

Elan

(ELN)

, up 54 cents to $7.61;

Pfizer

(PFE) - Get Report

, up 17 cents to $26.53;

Cell Therapeutics

(CTIC) - Get Report

, down 35 cents to $4.08;

Amgen

(AMGN) - Get Report

, up 62 cents to $60.43;

Schering-Plough

(SGP)

, up 11 cents to $18.59;

Johnson & Johnson

(JNJ) - Get Report

, up 22 cents to $67.82; and

Merck

(MRK) - Get Report

, up 13 cents to $32.29.

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