An FDA advisory committee is reviewing three new antibiotics this week, and investors are working overtime trying to figure out who will win or lose. Trading in shares of Switzerland's Arpida had to be suspended after its stock shot up 10 percent on market buzz that its antibiotic, iclaprim, would be approved. Theravance's telavancin and Targanta's oritavancin will be voted on tomorrow.
Arpida may not face an easy time, though. Dow Jones reports this morning that patients taking iclaprim demonstrated lower cure rates than patients taking Zyvox. FDA experts will discuss Arpida's drug on Thursday. The FDA is not bound by expert opinion, but it does typically follow their lead.
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