ICN Shares Soar on News of Drug’s Test

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s stock shot up Monday on news that tests showed its drug ribavirin may be effective in treating hepatitis when combined with a drug manufactured by giant Schering-Plough Corp.

Shares of Costa Mesa-based ICN climbed $6.06 to close at $49.88 in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange, after hitting a 52-week high of $52.88 earlier in the session. Nearly 2.7 million shares changed hands, 10 times the stock’s recent average daily volume.

New Jersey-based Schering-Plough reported Monday that tests of the combined drugs ribavirin and alpha interferon in hundreds of hepatitis patients who had experienced relapses showed a tenfold increase in the number with undetectable levels of hepatitis C virus. Schering makes alpha interferon and its stock advanced 56 cents to close at $51.56, also on the NYSE.

Hepatitis C, a liver ailment that often reveals no symptoms in its early stages but can be deadly, afflicts about 4 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The government estimates that of 10 chronically infected patients, two to five will develop liver cirrhosis. Of those, 20% to 30% will require a transplant.