April 7, 2005 -- Biotech closed near its highs on Thursday, after rising steadily throughout the day. It was the third session in a row that closed with a net gain for biotech. For the second day in a row, the Centient Biotech 200 was higher by more than 1%, closing up almost 42 points at 3147.18, a 1.34% gain. The COX-2 class of painkillers dominated the news today, with the FDA ordering a withdrawal of Bextra and a black box warning for Celebrex, two drugs from Pfizer. Investors shrugged off the setback as Pfizer closed unchanged on the day. Also in the news, Biogen Idec said its psoriasis drug did well in a Phase III test, though more Phase III tests will be needed, Genelabs’ lupus drug failed another trial, aaiPharm stock climbed mysteriously after it missed an interest payment a week ago, Kosan will move forward with its Phase II trial for metastatic breast cancer, Bio-Rad made a public offer to buy BioSource after the board wouldn’t negotiate, and Merck said its HPV vaccine did well in a Phase II trial--Phase III data is due later this year. More details...
