Genentech Inc., called the "premier" biotechnology firm by Elise Wang, analyst with Salomon Smith Barney - and Wang is hardly alone in her opinion - stands as one of the more closely watched companies in the biotechnology sector (maybe even the most watched of all), and a spate of news early this month focused even more attention on the firm.
Last week's blowup of Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s antisense drug, Affinitak, in a Phase III trial for non-small-cell lung cancer placed a question mark above that category of therapeutics, but nobody is flying the white flag of surrender yet. (BioWorld Financial Watch)
Shares of Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell 31.9 percent after the company disclosed data from the first of two Phase III studies with Affinitak, showing the antisense drug partnered with Eli Lilly and Co. failed to meet its primary endpoint. (BioWorld Today)
