ICN Stock Rises 13% in Heavy Trading

Shares of Costa Mesa drug maker ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose 13% Thursday after Schering-Plough Corp. said it is seeking U.S. regulatory approval to sell ICN’s hepatitis drug separately from its Intron A drug.

ICN’s drug, ribavirin, is available now only with Schering-Plough’s Intron A in a combination hepatitis C treatment called Rebetron. A recent study found combining ribavirin with Schering-Plough’s Peg-Intron is more effective than the Rebetron therapy.

That has led to investor concern that doctors would wait for approval of the new combination, instead of using Rebetron.

ICN shares rose $3.38 to $29.31 on the New York Stock Exchange in trading of 2.4 million, more than quadruple the three-month daily average. Earlier, the price hit $29.50. The stock traded as high as $41.75 a share on Oct. 20.

Schering-Plough’s stock closed unchanged at $57.88 a share.