November 6, 2005 – By rising 4% last week, biotech gave hope to investors who are expecting, or perhaps only desiring, a year-end rally. The increase last week came the old fashioned way: biotech companies rose on the backs of solid clinical results. For the record, the Centient Biotech 200™ was up 146 points last week, closing Friday afternoon at 3854.63, a gain of 3.93% for the period. Abgenix rose 25.7% on good data from its colorectal cancer drug, though ImClone declined as it faces imminent competition. Onyx Pharma also had a good week, reporting on its renal cancer drug, but it will go up against a Pfizer drug, also in development. The competition, and its attendent controversy, seemed to be good for biotech, which had one of its best weeks so far this year. More details...
