Company to Give Briefing on Potential AIDS Medication : ICN Stock Rises as Firm Calls Press Conference
ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. stock shot up sharply in active trading Thursday as company officials announced plans for a press conference in Washington todayto discuss test results of its potential AIDS medication, Virazole.
On volume of more than 1.4 million shares, the Costa Mesa-based drug maker’s shares gained $3.125 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange to close at $25.25.
That 14.1% increase in price made ICN the Big Board’s fourth biggest gainer for the day. On Wednesday ICN closed at $22.125 a share, up $2.125 on volume of 682,800 shares.
ICN’s Viratek Inc. subsidiary gained $3.50 in over-the-counter trading to close at $76 a share. ICN’s SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc. subsidiary, also traded OTC, closed at $33 a share, up $1.25 for the day.
ICN has been testing Virazole--also known as ribavirin--on more than 350 patients at medical centers across the United States. The clinical trials are a prerequisite to applying for Food and Drug Administration approval to market Virazole as an AIDS treatment.
A company spokesman on Thursday declined to discuss details of what is scheduled to be announced today.
Focus on Tests
However, securities analysts who follow the company said they expect the company’s announcement to focus on the results of tests that ended in November. Those tests involved approximately 150 patients who harbored the AIDS virus but did not display symptoms of the deadly disease.
A second battery of tests on patients with pre-AIDS, a series of symptoms which often precede the full disease, are expected to end this month.
ICN, as well as Viratek and SPI Pharmaceuticals, has run up sharply on Wall Street over the last year, largely because of speculation concerning the potential of Virazole as an AIDS and influenza treatment.
But last month, shares of the three companies suffered a steep sell-off after a New York investment firm questioned Virazole’s effectiveness in low doses, and investors learned that the pre-AIDS portion of the trials would continue into January, two months later than planned.
Virazole is one of several drugs considered to be potential AIDS medications.
