Vertex Pharmaceuticals got a much-needed boost to its share price after investors responded positively to the latest data analysis on its closely-watched hepatitis C therapy. Vertex stock jumped 28 percent after researchers noted that patients responded to telaprevir in a mid-stage study. The data will be featured in a late-breaker poster presentation during the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Milan, April 23-27. There's a $3 billion market for hep C drugs in the U.S. and Europe. Schering-Plough is also developing a hep C drug--boceprevir.
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