Agios gains on quarterly report

Wall Street finished the week slightly higher on reports that job creation in February was higher than expected and January numbers were revised higher. The benchmark S&P 500 rose 1 percent to its highest level at 1878.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week up 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index ended the week up 0.65 percent. The Burrill Select Index fell 2.01 percent, as did other biotech indices. There was no obvious reason except possibly that many biotech stocks are trading at all time highs and some analysts said that a massive sell-off was unlikely.

Agios Pharmaceuticals was the biggest advancer, gaining 45.4 in the week after reporting fourth quarter and full year revenue, both of which beat analyst expectations. Agios is focused on therapeutics that target cancer metabolism and inborn errors of metabolism. The biotech also said it filed two investigational new drug applications and is on track to initiate two clinical trials of its experimental drug candidates to treat inborn errors of metabolism in mid-2014.

NewLink Genetics fell 28.5 percent after reporting that the independent data safety monitoring committee had recommended that the late-stage study of its pancreatic cancer vaccine continue without modification after completing the first interim data analysis after 222 patient events, or deaths. Although the news in itself was not bad, investors had been looking for a better result such as it showing enough efficacy for the trial to be halted.

As healthcare in the United States moves toward a value-based system where providers are paid based on outcomes rather than the number of procedures, the Department of Health and Human Services is looking to implement value-based purchasing across the different types of providers in the Medicare program.

AstraZeneca has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Health Industry Development Institute to establish an oncology research program to support 12 early-stage translational research projects by Korean investigators. The aim of the new program is to contribute to the development of new treatments for Korean cancer patients. Cancer is an area of serious unmet need in South Korea, the number one cause of death in the country with incidence growing rapidly.     

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that FDA-approved anti-psychotic drugs possess tumor-killing activity against the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer, glioblastoma. The finding was published in this week's online edition of Oncotarget.