Genelabs Technologies Inc.'s $23.7 million financing at the start of October sparked renewed interest in its Phase III drug Prestara for lupus - and in the indication itself, for which a new therapy based on randomized, placebo-controlled trials has not been approved in more than four decades. (BioWorld Financial Watch)

Wall Street nicked shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. on word of results from two Phase IIb trials with its protease inhibitor telaprevir, as investors apparently were turned off by somewhat lower than expected sustained viral response (SVR), though the drug beat standard of care. (BioWorld Today)