February 1, 2006 – Amgen soared on news that Roche would hold off an extra two years before launching Cera, its anemia drug, for the indication of cancer; Angiotech Pharma paid $785 million to buy American Medical Instruments Holdings; GlaxoSmithKline launched Avandaryl, a combination of two type 2 diabetes drugs; Lorus Therapeutics said its pancreatic cancer medication showed a benefit in continuing therapy; ImmunoGen received a $2 million milestone payment from Genentech for its cancer drug; Bio-Bridge Science reported positive data from lab tests of its HIV therapeutic vaccine; Dr Reddy’s agreed to sell generic versions of two drugs from Merck; Prana touted a journal article that substantiates the company’s claims for its Alzheimer’s drug; and Vical began a Phase II trial of a CMV vaccine. Biotech took advantage of the increase in Amgen, rising 33 points to end at 3985.71, an increase of .84%. More details...
