Ebb & Flow

After bidding up Aviron (AVIR) earlier last week, investors were forced to wait through the weekend to see the fate of their bet as the stock was halted on Thursday and Friday for the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee's review of AVIR's FluMist influenza vaccine. After first deciding that FluMist was efficacious, the panel voted 10-4 on Friday that the data were not adequate to support the safety of the compound (see A5).

The stock had traded up $3.80 (10%) to $40.80 through Wednesday. Buyers of AVIR's $200 million follow-on on Feb. 2, which went off at $50 a share, should be particularly interested in Monday's open...