Sector Update: Health Care Shares Close Mixed – Federal Expert Panel Says Pfizer Anti-Infection Vaccine Safe for Infants, Toddlers

04:53 PM Eastern Standard Time, 11/18/2009 (MidnightTrader) — Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index: +0.65 (+0.21%) at 310.14 (regular session close)

Top Health Care Stocks:

JNJ: +0.24%

PFE: +1.39%

ABT: -0.24%

MRK: +2.48%

AMGN: -0.25%

Health care shares closed mixed. Pfizer (PFE) was higher after a panel of federal experts said an updated version of Pfizer’s best-selling anti-infection vaccine is safe and effective for infants and toddlers. YM BioSciences (YMI) was sharply higher after announcing that results from a study evaluating nimotuzumab were presented in a poster at the 2009 AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics conference in Boston, Massachusetts. Sangamo BioSciences (SGMO) was lower after announcing that data from the University of Pennsylvania investigator sponsored Phase 1 safety study of Sangamo’s zinc finger nuclease-based product, SB-728-T, for HIV/AIDS were inadvertently and prematurely disclosed on the Internet.

A panel of federal experts said an updated version of Pfizer’s best-selling anti-infection vaccine is safe and effective for infants and toddlers, despite company studies that fell short of certain goals. The Food and Drug Administration’s panel of vaccine experts voted 10-1 in favor of Pfizer’s Prevnar 13 to protect against pneumococcal disease. The new vaccine reduces the risk of ear infections, meningitis and pneumonia. The new version adds protection against six additional strains to the seven covered by the current vaccine.

YM BioSciences announced that results from a study evaluating nimotuzumab were presented in a poster at the 2009 AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics conference in Boston, Massachusetts. The reported results demonstrate that nimotuzumab in combination with metronomic chemotherapy in an advanced triple-negative breast cancer preclinical model is safe and effective.

Sangamo BioSciences announced that data from the University of Pennsylvania investigator sponsored Phase 1 safety study of Sangamo’s zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) based product, SB-728-T, for HIV/AIDS were inadvertently and prematurely disclosed on the Internet. Data were presented in a student course at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine from a single subject treated with SB-728-T who, as part of the study, began a structured treatment interruption (STI) from his antiviral drug therapy four weeks after SB-728-T treatment. This subject was reported to have stable CD4+ and ZFN-modified T-cell levels and an undetectable viral load one month post STI initiation. Previous studies have shown that in subjects undergoing an STI, the average time to detection of an increase in viral load is two to four weeks. While this subject continues to demonstrate stable CD4+ T-cell counts and stable levels of ZFN-modified T-cells, by six weeks post STI initiation the subject had a detectable viral load.