So, I can now safely say, with complete confidence, that Food and Drug Administration approval of the new Abbott drug-coated stent will not happen in the second quarter. Recently, at least a couple of analysts have been telling clients a decision was getting pushed out until the third quarter and one suggested that Xience won't be launched until Q4.   Read More

FBR's Christopher Warren is out with a research note to clients this morning saying that Boston Scientific is doing deals. He writes that BSX is "reportedly bundling $1,100 (that's right, $1,100) Taxus stents with defibrillators and ultrasound devices."    Read More

Following are the week’s biggest winners and losers. Find out why shares of Abbott Labs and Starbucks popped while CBS and Dillard's dropped.   Read More

Following are the day’s biggest winners and losers. Find out why shares of Dell and Fluor popped while True Religion and Western Refining dropped   Read More

Investors are finding no solace in Merck's reaffirmation that it'll still hit its earnings numbers this year. Instead they're punishing the stock after the company announced what everyone is calling a surprise and a significant setback.    Read More

It's a big day for pipeline progress...or not. Late Friday, Merck and Schering-Plough announced that the Food and Drug Administration won't approve their combo Claritin-Singulair combo pill for allergies.    Read More

Dow component and healthcare conglomerate (drugs, consumer products, medical devices) Johnson & Johnson beat and boosted. That's Wall Street jargon for earnings coming in higher than expectations and the guidance for the rest of the year being raised. So, why did the stock go down?    Read More

Who’s the winner and loser in drug stocks today? Schering-Plough down 25 percent (!) and Merck down 16 percent pre-open on a study that showed that the companies cholesterol lowering drugs Vytorin and Zetia were not more effective than less expensive drugs.    Read More

The American College Of Cardiology kicks off its annual meeting in Chicago on Saturday. What’s the trade ahead of this major meeting of heart doctors?   Read More

Ahead of the world's biggest gathering of cardiologists in Chicago this weekend, there's a flurry of news about stents--the expensive little wire mesh tubes that prop open clogged arteries. First, the Food and Drug Administration has posted new proposed guidelines for pre-and post-market testing of the controversial devices.    Read More