drug trials

Vertex Pharmaceutical shares soared 15% Wednesday as Wall Street cheered the results of a late-stage study of its new cystic fibrosis drug, an experimental treatment that targets the underlying cause of the disease rather than just its symptoms.

The odds of shepherding a new drug to market in recent years has fallen to nearly one in 10 -- about half of the previous rate, according to a new study released this week. First, a new treatment must survive several layers of clinical studies -- and then the FDA approval process. That trip is getting tougher.

Pfizer shares were down more than 1% Monday afternoon despite the pharmaceutical giant's report Sunday of successful late-stage trial results for an experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug. The study showed tasocitinib reduced pain and inflammation and improved physical function in patients with moderately to severely active RA.

Micromet shares traded some 3.3% higher on Monday after the small-cap biotech announced that its candidate drug blinatumomab led to remission in almost four-fifths of leukemia patients in a Phase II trial. It also said that a Phase I trial showed the drug induced durable remission in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Alzheimer's has been a tough area for medical research, resulting in little help to date for the millions of sufferers. But a new database of patient information from failed trials, built by competing drugmakers, may yield clues to a treatment breakthrough.

Back in early July, Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGSI) shares jumped over 230 percent in one day after the pharmaceutical company said its experimental lupus drug had succeeded in a late-stage clinical trial, silencing many of its skeptics. If you decided then that a 230 percent move was all that...