Buying the action in biotech


This post was written by Minyanville Contributor Steve Smith.

Pharmaceuticals have been alive and merging. The most recent deal is this morning's news that Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) wants CV Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CVTX), which comes on the heals Roche's purchase of Genentech(NYSE:DNA) and Merck's (NYSE:MRK) proposed merger with Schering Plough(NYSE:SGP).


This activity has put a bid under the sector as people not only trying to guess who's next but also these three deals will mean that about $70-100 billion will need to be reallocated by funds that track the pharma/biotech sectors.

Some names benefiting from spillover buying are Celgene(NASDAQ:CELG)whose stock is up over $4 or 10%. CELG has also seen robust option activity with the focus in the April $45 and $50 calls. Biogen Idec(NYSE:BIIB) shares are up 4% to $48 and seeing above average activity in its March and April $50 calls.

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Last updated: February 10, 2012: 08:14 AM

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