Monday's Health Winners & Losers

J&J is higher a day before its earnings report.

Author:
Althea Chang
Publish date:
Jul 17, 2006 4:47 PM EDT

J&J is higher a day before its earnings report.

Threshold Pharmaceuticals

(THLD)

sank more than 50% after the company said a proposed treatment for a prostate condition didn't show significant efficacy and caused serious side effects in clinical trial patients.

The drug, dubbed TH-070, didn't significantly reduce symptoms in patients with a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, a noncancerous enlargement of the prostate. In addition, the drug caused 13 patients to have an elevation in liver enzymes compared with two patients receiving a placebo. In six of the patients, the side effects were considered serious adverse events.

Threshold plans to revise its financial guidance for the year. Shares lost $1.50 and were trading at $1.48.

Specialty pharmaceutical company

QLT

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fell 4.9% to $6.59 after the eye-drug maker announced lowered sales of its vision-loss drug Visudyne. According to the company, sales of the treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration fell 26.1% from the second quarter of last year. Sales declined 10.7% from the first quarter.

Eli Lilly's

(LLY) - Get Free Report

drug Gemzar was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat women living with recurrent ovarian cancer. Shares of the drugmaker, which is slated to report its quarterly results later this week, added 34 cents to $54.90.

The approval goes against the March recommendations of an FDA advisory panel, which concluded that the survival advantage of a few weeks for patients taking the drug for ovarian cancer didn't make up for the drug's toxicity risks when used in combination with chemotherapy. Gemzar is already approved to treat pancreatic and lung cancers.

Medical-device maker

Medtronic

(MDT) - Get Free Report

received FDA approval for its Guardian continuous glucose-monitoring device for diabetes management. The real-time device is designed to help patients control their glucose levels by alerting them when their blood sugar is too high or low. The company's shares were up 43 cents to $47.48.

Johnson & Johnson's

(JNJ) - Get Free Report

shares also moved higher, as investors await the company's quarterly earnings report Tuesday morning. Shares were up 45 cents, or 0.7%, to $60.91.

Other health stocks moving higher included health care management company

United American Healthcare

(UAHC)

, whose shares were up 1.7% to $3, drug developer

Novogen

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, whose shares rose 4.5% to $11.14, and

GTC Biotherapeutics

( GTCB), up 5.2% to $1.43.