Health Care Down After Earnings - Health Care Roundup

Shares of health-care companies fell amid mixed earnings reports. Shares of Biogen slid after analysts noted that U.S. quarterly sales of its Spinraza therapy for spinal muscular atrophy were flat from a year earlier. Alexion ticked up after the Food and Drug Administration approved a wider commercial application for one of its key products. Shares of Eli Lilly rose after reports it was considering a spinoff of its Elanco animal-drug unit. The unit could fetch $14 billion to $16 billion in a sale based on the valuation of Pfizer spinoff Zoetis, according to analysts at brokerage JP Morgan. Novartis delayed a possible spinoff of its eye-care division Alcon until the first half of 2019 after signs of a turnaround in the struggling business. Insurer Centene warned that cuts to government subsidies on Affordable Care Act business would eat into its earnings.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 24, 2017 16:48 ET (20:48 GMT)