December 16, 2005 -- Novartis ended a Phase II clinical trial of its statin-class cholesterol drug and took a $266 million dollar charge; Johnson and Johnson bought Animas, a maker of diabetes infusion pumps, for $518 million or $24.50 per share; according to Merck, the FDA favors approval of its shingles vaccine Zostavax, but only for adults aged 60 and above; Roche has successfully completed all four Phase III trials of its anti-anemia agent; OraSure slipped lower after its oral test for HIV was reported to give false positive readings; and Inhibitex presented positive data from a Phase II trial of its staff infection therapy. The Centient Biotech 200™ was 31 points lower at 3957.98, a loss of .78%. More details...
