Pfizer

From October 2010 to February 2011, biotech Clinical Data's stock doubled, mostly thanks to FDA approval of its novel antidepressant. But also pushing the stock up -- and making it likely to perhaps double again -- is speculation that a Big Pharma will buy Clinical Data.

Companies that have piled up cash over the past few years are finding one good use for it: Repurchasing their own shares. January alone saw $57 billion in buybacks, compared with $357 billion for all of 2010. While buybacks don't add value, they do give investors more options.

Pfizer's cancer drug Sutent and Novartis's drug Afinitor have both been found to be effective against the rare form of pancreatic cancer that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was diagnosed with in 2004, according to two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Pfizer beat Wall Street expectations by a slim margin as its profits nearly quadrupled, compared to a 2009 quarter hurt by big restructuring charges. Shares rose more than 5% even though the company warned that revenue is slowing and it plans to cut its workforce.

Wall Street shrugged off instability in Egypt to rally to a two-and-a-half year high Tuesday, boosted by encouraging economic data and better-than-expected corporate earnings.

Pfizer reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday that nearly quadrupled from a year ago as revenue rose 6%. But it also lowered its sales guidance for 2012, due to some of its bestselling drugs going off patent. What's ahead for the world's biggest drugmaker:

Sanofi-Aventis announced its cancer drug candidate iniparib failed in a late-stage clinical trial. Other pharmaceutical companies have also experienced recent setbacks as they scramble to bolster their pipelines ahead of the patent cliff, when they will be forced to compete with cheaper generics.