As the excitement surrounding the first rate rise for almost a decade dies down and attention turns to what it may mean for the global economy, the drugs industry was in focus once more.
The day kicked off early with a story on UK based drugs giant AstraZeneca (LON:AZN, NYSE:AZN), which will buy a 55% stake in Acerta Pharma for $4 billion to gain a potential blockbuster blood cancer drug.
The group reckons acalabrutinib could sell more than $5 billion a year.
One analyst suggested it could mean a multibillion-dollar potential drug launch in 2017 that could accelerate AstraZeneca’s re-emergence as a major force in cancer.
Shares in Astra in London added almost 2%, while they eased 1.45% in New York.
A big trending story today concerned pharma entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, 32, who was reportedly arrested by the FBI in New York.
The 32 year old has been charged in a federal indictment related to his time managing the hedge fund MSMB Capital and as chief executive of biopharmaceutical company Retrophin.
Shkreli is currently chief executive and founder of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which has been the subject of a controversy over acquiring a decades-old drug and massively raising the price of it.
WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT?
MagneGas (NASDAQ:MNGA) jumped 8.2% after the technology company said a sub-contractor for a major Kennedy Space Center build-out project has placed their first order for MagneGas fuel.
mCig (OTCMKTS:MCIG) gained 38% after the distributor of products and services for the medical and legal recreational cannabis industry, reported quarterly revenue surged 13 times to $885,665 and net loss shrank by almost half.
Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SMMT) rose 3% as the biopharmaceutical company readies itself for the next stage of clinical trials for treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and C. difficile infection (CDI).
FALLERS
Efftec International (OTCMKTS:EFFI) slipped 15%, reversing an earlier gain. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company announced the reverse merger of Red Light Bakers LLC and its complimentary "sister" companies (RLB), which has no debt and is currently generating positive cash flow.
RepliCel Life Sciences (OTCQB:REPCF) fell 3.6% to $0.187 after the regenerative medicine specialist focused on cell therapies said first injections had been completed in the phase 1 clinical study evaluating its skin rejuvenation product.
Theralase Technologies (OTCMKTS:TLTFF) fell 1.2% to $0.261, erasing earlier gains. The biotechnology manufacturer said Health Canada has approved its next generation anti-cancer drug, TLD-1433, under clinical trial application (CTA) for evaluation in a Phase Ib clinical trial for patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).