Biotech Keeps A Small Gain

March 24, 2005 After trading higher for most of the day, stocks gave up most of their gains in the final hour, closing mixed. The Centient Biotech 200 held on to a gain, albeit a small one, finishing 7 points higher at 3195.39, a .22% gain. Guilford Pharma dropped 30% after putting an early stop to a Phase III trial of a new sedative, Advanced Magnetics got an approvable letter for its molecular imaging agent, Pain Therapeutics said its opioid painkiller cut withdrawal symptoms by 50%, an ICOS drug for chronic pulmonary disease did not provide a benefit, Icoria sold its agricultural business to Monsanto, and EntreMed licensed tubulin inhibitor compounds from Celgene.