Immunex Corp.'s R&D spinoff, Receptech Corp. (NASDAQ:RECP),jumped $3.63 to $19 on Tuesday in the wake of upbeatcomments by Merrill Lynch analyst Stuart Weisbrod onMonday about prospects for Immunex's IL-1 receptor product.

Immunex created Receptech in 1989 to fund receptordevelopment and has licensed U.S. rights for its receptorproducts from the spinoff. Immunex (NASDAQ:IMNX) closedunchanged at $25 after gaining $1 on Monday.

Vestar Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTR) closed unchanged at $11.25 despitereporting its third consecutive quarterly profit in the periodending March 31. The San Diego developer of liposomal drugsearned $900,000, or 6 cents a share, compared with a $1.6million loss, or 25 cents, in the year-prior quarter. A 200percent revenue gain, to $6.6 million, included nearly $6million in European sales of AmBisome anti-fungal treatment.In the year-prior quarter, product sales were $2.1 million.

Alex. Brown & Sons analyst David Webber said Vestar's resultswere "very good. Sales are rising and costs of manufacturingfell dramatically this quarter."

Investors jumped on Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ:CEPH), which lost$1.75 to $9.75 after reporting a widening loss of $3 million, or34 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.8 million, or 31cents, in the 1991 quarter. The company said a $2 millionincrease in operating expenses, to $3.9 million, resulted frompreparations for entering trials of Myotrophin to treat LouGehrig's disease.

Sluggish performance by top-tier companies that dominate theAMEX Biotechnology Index, including Centocor Inc., pushed theindex down 4.08 points to 131.52. However, several second-and third-tier stocks made small to moderate gains, whileothers closed unchanged.

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