The Day In Review: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Reports Positive Arthritis Drug News

March 9, 2006 -- Vertex Pharma reported successful results from a Phase II trial of its rheumatoid arthritis drug, though its shares still took a tumble; SFBC rose sharply higher after reporting lower earnings, which reassured investors by not being worse; anon-opioid pain killer from Corgentech met its endpoints in a Phase II trial; a published study said that thalidomide from Celgene failed to prolong survival in myeloma patients; Merck in-licensed a novel antibiotic from Paratek Pharma; Avant received a $4 million milestone for its rotavirus vaccine; Indevus will begin clinical trials of its testosterone therapy for male hypogonadism; ambrisentan, a potential therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension from Myogen, won fast track status; and StemCells moved closer to beginning clinical trials of its stem cell therapy for Batten disease. The Centient Biotech 200™ was down 34 points at 3970.79, a loss of .86%. More details...