Big pharma Pfizer (PFE) briefly halted trading Wednesday afternoon to announce that a patent on best-selling arthritis drug Celebrex had been invalidated by a district court. When trading resumed, shares were down nearly 1% in the stock market today. Pfizer had sued five makers of generic drugs — Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA), Mylan (MYL), Watson Laboratories (now part of Actavis (ACT), Lupin Pharmaceuticals and Apotex — that were angling
The annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, which convenes in San Diego on April 5, is viewed by most drug-industry watchers as a second-tier medical conference. But physicians and investors will be watching closely this year, as Pfizer will report on a drug that could dramatically extend the lives of patients with breast cancer. Pfizer’s (PFE) palbociclib is the first in a new class of cancer drugs called CDK 4/6
Auxilium Pharmaceuticals (AUXL) beat analysts’ Q4 expectations but guided in line Friday morning. Auxilium shares were up more than 2% in early trading in the stock market today, hitting its highest point since May 2010. Revenue totaled $125.9 million, about $14 million above analysts’ consensus. That was down 27% from the year-earlier quarter, but Q4 2012 included a one-time payment from Pfizer (PFE) on the termination of the two firms’