April 19, 2005 Biotech traded higher late in the session on Tuesday, after spending much of the day trying to figure out whether it was more interested in the territory above or below the flat line. The Centient Biotech 200 gained almost 10 points (.31%) to 3171.24, numbers that trailed the gains posted by broader market indexes. The NYSE Composite was up .88% and Nasdaq climbed 1.02%. Among acquisition news, Johnson & Johnson bought Peninsula Pharma, which almost came public earlier this year, for $245 million, Jazz Pharma bought publicly traded Orphan Medical for $123 million, and Boston Scientific exercised its option to buy CryoVascular System, a collaborator. Genta offered up some promising pre-clinical results for its cancer drug, and Peregrine did the same. Forest Labs, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer all reported their Q1 earnings, which gives us a read on how the pharmaceutical makers are doing. More details...
