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The accompanying table presents an analysis and statistics for the 28 healthcare ETFs listed at the Yahoo! Finance ETF Center. As a group, the healthcare ETFs outpaced the overall market in the past year by more than 10%, posting an average loss of 26.5% compared to a loss of 37.4% for the S&P 500 SPDR ETF (SPY). The best performing healthcare ETF was the Biotech HOLDRs (BBH), thanks to a buyout bid for top holding Genetech (DNA) and solid earnings results this year for the number two position, Amgen (AMGN).

The top three

The accompanying table presents statistics and the top five rated companies in the ETFI Global Generic Drug Index, which includes a total of 44 companies. Over the past year, generic drug companies have outpaced both the Healthcare Sector SPDR (XLV) and existing drug ETFs such as PowerShares Dynamic Pharma (PJP), Pharma HOLDRs (PPH), iShares Dow Jones US Pharma (IHE), and the S&P Pharma SPDR (XPH).

All of the top five rated generic drug companies and over two-thirds of the 44 companies in the index are b

Eli Lilly (LLY) and Daiichi Sankyo (Tokyo: 4568) announced on Friday evening that the FDA had not completed its regulatory review for its blood thinner drug, which would go by the brand name of Effient (prasugrel). The FDA previously delayed its decision by three months earlier this summer, but in this case no new deadline was set by the agency. Shares of Eli Lilly slid by about 4% after hours on less than 100,000 shares traded, closing near its 52-week low at $45.01 per share on Friday evening. However, the current sli

The accompanying table presents an overview of big pharma companies, presented in descending order by market cap. My favorite play in the space remains to be Pfizer (PFE), which I have written about previously and finally bought shares today at $17.90 with a dividend yield exceeding 7%. Despite growth concerns and looming generic competition for Lipitor in late 2011, I bought shares of Pfizer today as a value pick and turnaround play which operates in a defensive sector with a strong balance sheet. Also, the Company is aggressive

Last night, Bristol-Myers (BMY) announced plans to increase its bid for the remaining 83% of ImClone Systems (IMCL) it does not already own to $62 per share and plans to take the offer directly to shareholders in the form of a tender offer. ImClone and Chairman Carl Icahn rejected a $60 per share cash bid from Bristol-Myers at the end of July and stated that a mystery big pharma bidder had emerged at $70 per share, as I last wrote about here . Besides Bristol-Myers 17% stake in ImClone, the two companies are marketing pa

The accompanying table includes a calendar of expected FDA decision dates through the end of January 2009, including nine decisions due by the end of September. Some likely near-term movers on the calendar include Cypress Bioscience (CYPB) + partner Forest Labs (FRX) with a pending decision on milnacipran in the treatment of fibromyalgia slated for the end of October in addition to results from a Phase 3 trial for the drug some time before year end. Also, Discovery Labs (DSCO) is not listed on the calendar, b