Thursday’s top gaining and declining stocks

Tallahassee, FL 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of the following companies made notable moves on Thursday:

Gainers

Citrix Systems (Nasdaq: CTXS +9.28%) shares gained 8%. Analysts at FBR Capital Markets upped their rating on the shares to outperform, on the heels of first-quarter financial results issued late Wednesday.

Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI +6.66%) shares rose 6%. The maker of generic drugs said late Wednesday it agreed to acquire Actavis Group, a privately held company that had 2011 revenue of about $2.5 billion.

Xilinx Inc (Nasdaq: XLNX +6.22%) shares added 7.2%. The company said late Wednesday that profit slipped in the first quarter but revenue rose.

Decliners

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET -9.75%) shares fell 10%. Earlier Thursday, the company said first-quarter earnings fell 13% as the health insurer saw the portion of premiums paid out to cover medical costs increase.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM -8.85%) fell 9%. Late Wednesday, the firm reported first-quarter results and said that its CEO succession plan is underway.

Furiex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: FURX -25.87%) shares fell 26% on Thursday. Earlier Thursday, the company said the FDA has requested further data from partner Takeda Pharmaceutical, a development that Furiex called disappointing.

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Watson (NYSE: WPI) Launches Generic of ViroPharma's (Nasdaq: VPHM) Antibiotic, Viro’s Shares Sink 19%

Chicago, IL 4/9/12 (StreetBeat) -- Generic drugmaker Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSE: WPI) said U.S. health regulators approved its copycat version of ViroPharma Inc's (Nasdaq: VPHM) antibiotic Vancocin.

Separately, ViroPharma said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined its citizen petition, which was filed to prevent Watson from launching the generic version.

Shares of ViroPharma were trading down 18 percent at $23.40 in premarket.

Watson said it has started shipping the drug, which recorded sales of $332 million for the 12 months ended February 29, 2012.

ViroPharma shares closed at $28.61 on Monday on the Nasdaq.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

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Columbia Labs (Nasdaq: CBRX) Declines 58% After FDA Panel Doesn’t Back Preterm Birth Gel

Orlando, FL 1/23/12 (StreetBeat) -- Columbia Laboratories Inc. (Nasdaq: CBRX) fell the most in almost five years after a panel advising U.S. regulators didn’t back the company’s gel to prevent preterm births.

Columbia Labs plunged 55 percent to 72 cents at 9:48 a.m. New York time, after earlier dropping to 65 cents in the biggest intraday decline since February 2007. The medicine, called Prochieve, is being developed with Parsippany, New Jersey-based Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) Watson fell less than 1 percent to $57.74.

The advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted at a Jan. 20 meeting that trial data didn’t prove the progesterone gel prevented mid-trimester births in women with short cervixes. The regulator is scheduled to decide whether to approve the treatment by Feb. 26 and isn’t required to follow the panel’s recommendations. The panel said a new study might be needed before it could recommend the medicine.

“The path forward for Prochieve is highly uncertain,” Michael Tong, a senior analyst with Wells Fargo & Co. in New York, said in a note to clients today. “We believe WPI could even elect to terminate development of Prochieve,” he wrote.

Columbia, based in Livingston, New Jersey, had $45.7 million in 2010 revenue, and has five products on the market, according to its website. Columbia’s management had suggested peak sales in preterm birth prevention may reach as high as $275 million, Tong said on Jan. 17.

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Watson's Generic Yaz(R) Receives FDA Approval

Orlando, FL 11/29/11 (StreetBeat) --Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) today announced that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc., has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Vestura(TM) (3 mg drospirenone and 0.02 mg ethinyl estradiol), a generic version of Bayer's Yaz(R) oral contraceptive product. Watson is currently involved in patent litigation with Bayer concerning this product.

Yaz(R) had total U.S. sales of $173 million for the twelve months ending September 30, 2011, according to IMS Health. Watson's Vestura(TM) is indicated for the prevention of pregnancy and for the treatment of moderate acne in women at least 14 years old only if the patient desires an oral contraceptive for birth control.

About Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an integrated global specialty pharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the development, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of generic pharmaceuticals and specialized branded pharmaceutical products focused on Urology and Women's Health. Watson has operations in many of the world's established and growing international markets.

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