March 13, 2006 -- The German Merck made an unsolicited offer of $17.4 billion to buy Schering, moving Schering shares to a premium over the bid; Watson Pharma signed a definitive agreement to buy Andrx, a fellow generic drug manufacturer, for $1.9 billion; Pharmacopeia said its CXCR2 antagonist showed promise as a treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Vical reported its delivery technology was used in an angiogenesis drug that produced good results; Celacade from Vasogen failed a Phase III trial in patients with peripheral arterial disease; a celiac drug candidate from Alba surpassed expectations; Vytorin from Merck and Schering-Plough did a better job of lowering LDL cholesterol than Lipitor; and Myriad Genetics reported positive long-term data on its Alzheimer’s drug. The Centient Biotech 200™ moved 9 points higher to 3984.89, a rise of .23%. More details...
