Also . . .

* Amgen Inc. of Thousand Oaks and BASF of Germany are developing rheumatoid arthritis drugs that would compete with Immunex Corp.’s Enbrel, the breakthrough drug that tackles the disease by altering the immune system. BASF’s drug is in the last of three stages of testing generally required for U.S. approval. It works as Enbrel does, by blocking a protein called tumor necrosis factor to control the joint inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. Amgen is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of a drug that attacks a different protein linked to the disease, interleukin. Amgen shares rose $2.42 to close at $60.35 on Nasdaq.