Abbott's wild ride

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had a rollercoaster ride last week, gaining $4.3 billion in market cap on positive HCV data before losing more than $8.6 billion on details of its AbbVie pharmaceutical spinout and safety signals for chronic kidney disease candidate bardoxolone.

Last Monday, shares rose $2.77 to $72.05 after Abbott reported data from the Phase IIb Aviator trial of an interferon-free regimen including three of Abbott's antivirals. The regimen - ABT-450 plus ABT-267, ABT-333, ritonavir and ribavirin for 12 weeks - produced an SVR12 in 99% of treatment-naive patients and in 93% of null responders (see Cover Story). ...