Viagra trance

Investors weren't kind to biotech companies developing erectile dysfunction products despite a spate of data presented at the American Urological Association meeting last week in San Diego (see Clinical Results, B9, B10). All five ED companies with news at the conference were off significantly on the week (see link above). Icos(ICOS) - which did not announce any ED news - was caught in the selloff and gave back 9 percent to $19.25 on the week. Investors most likely took profits from the buying craze of the prior week, when ICOS ran up 23 percent to $21.062 on the basis of a BusinessWeek article discussing its IC351 phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (see Ebb & Flow, June 1).

FDA MEETING - ERGO, MORE TRIALS? After meeting with the FDA, Ergo Science (ERGO) is putting together a clinical plan to address questions raised by an advisory panel about the durability of Ergoset bromocriptine's effect on hemoglobin A1c (a marker of long-term glucose control) and any ancillary effects due to the compound's mechanism of action...