The life science market continued to show resilience today with a few big movers and a bidding up of  large cap drugs such as Johnson and Johnson (JNJ $67.15), Novartis (NVS $64.24), Pfizer(PFE $21.21) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY $39.42). Foreign drug companies fared better up ~1.5% probably because of strength of the Euro.

The Rayno Life Science Portfolio was up slightly but notable movers were:

Albany Molecular Research (AMRI $5.13) up 5% gaining traction above $5 on news that its obesity compound an MCH1 receptor antagonist, ALB-127158(a) completed Phase I studies.

Gilead (GILD $41.55) up 0.83% on volume of 3M shares approaching its 52 week high of $42.93. Barron’s had a story this week calling it one of three best picks in biotech along with Human Genome Sciences(HGSI) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX). Gilead dominates the $13B Market for HIV infection. The stock is up 14.75% YTD.

Optimer (OPTR $14.12) up 8.78% on approval of their drug Dificid a new antibiotic for C.difficile infection. The intestinal affection, a hospital acquired infection (HAI) affects 700,000 U.S. patients each year. The approval was expected and the stock has been choppy in a range of $12-14 for 3 months. Pricing for Dificid was an aggressive $2800 for  a ten day treatment, about twice that of nearest  competitors. The Company believes the drug is superior and more cost effective because it prevents re-infection.

Nektar (NKTR $9.50) up 1.5% has found buyers nears its recent bottom of $9 and will present data at ASCO on June 7 on its anti-tumor drug NKTR-102 for treatment of ovarian and breast cancer.

Our mid-cap index of 35 biotech stocks are up 0.63%.

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