Alnylam shares gain on Novartis deal
Avian-flu stocks move broadly higher
By Val Brickates Kennedy, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:41 PM ET Feb 21, 2006
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Shares of avian-flu drug-developers rallied Tuesday after Swiss conglomerate Novartis announced a collaborative agreement with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to develop new drugs to combat the deadly virus.
Earlier Tuesday, Novartis (NVS) said they would join to develop RNAi-based therapeutics that can be used to treat various forms of influenza, including avian flu, in humans. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Alnylam's shares jumped 10% to close at $15.46, while Novartis slipped 1% to $54.26.
Alnylam is already receiving funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, also known as DARPA, to focus on pandemic flu therapeutics. The company hopes to apply for regulatory clearance to begin Phase I clinical trials for such a drug by the end of 2006.
News of the deal boosted shares of other smaller biotech companies engaged in avian-flu research.
Niche vaccine makers Generex Biotechnology (GNBT) .
Generex was the biggest mover, jumping 19% to close at $1.92, while Novavax gained 8% to $4.98.
Vical, which has a government contract to explore faster ways to produce DNA-based vaccines, moved up 6% to $4.45, and Avant was up 7% at $1.97.
Hemispherx, which recently announced promising data for its drugs Ampligen and Alferon in the treatment of avian flu, rocketed 27% to $3.98, as BioCryst added 3% to $19.67. |
