March 23, 2007 -- Bad news from Genentech and Amgen put a pall over the entire biotech sector. Genentech projected flat earnings for Q1, and a combination of Avastin and radiation may have caused fatal digestive side effects. Amgen stopped a trial of Vectibix in colorectal cancer in which Vectibix and Avastin underperformed Avastin alone. The rest of biotech news was not so negative: Celgene received a recommendation for approval of Revlimid in Europe; Charles River Labs will joint venture in China with Shanghai BioExplorer; Hana Biosciences will stop pursuing an SPA for cancer drug Marqibo; ambrisentan from Gilead and GSK was recommended for approval in Europe PAH; Pozen said the FDA accepted its response to an approvable letter for migraine drug Trexima; Pfizer lost a patent suit for Norvasc, a treatment for high blood pressure; and Pharmasset set the terms for its upcoming IPO. The Centient Biotech 200™ fell 34 points to 3898, a loss of .86%. More details...
