The Day In Review: Biogen Idec Warning Sends Biotech Lower

March 16, 2005 -- On a relative strength basis, biotech was performing pretty well on Wednesday, weathering a general onslaught of bad news (higher crude oil prices and interest rates). Then, with two hours of trading left, the news hit that Biogen Idec would add a warning label to its main revenue source, the MS drug Avonex. The setback took biotech lower, and the Centient Biotech 200 closed off by 29.58 points at 3183.67, a .92% drop. We talk about the warning label for Biotech Idec, a FDA-ordered halt to an MS drug from GlaxoSmithKline that is similar to Tysabri, a halt for a Metabasis diabetes compound, a drop in Telik following an analyst downgrade, plus some good news: Keryx settled on a Special Protocol for its diabetic nephropathy drug, a merger for Epimmune, and a new approval for Schering-Plough. We detail the stories behind the headlines...

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