Innovative Drug Companies Headline the Gainers

For all the debate about possible reform to the U.S. medical system, it is easy to forget that the majority of major innovations in drugs and medical devices come from America. It is worth remembering that even with all the problems troubling the health care system, innovation continues to be a bright spot. Three of the biggest gains among individual stocks on Monday were from U.S. companies in the pharmaceutical sector largely because of this sort of innovation..

The biggest winner in today’s action are investors in Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) which is up more than 30% in afternoon trading following the completion of their second successful late stage clinical trials for a treatment of Lupus. We first wrote about this company after the completion of their first major trial on this drug in July (HGSI’s Lupus Drug Shows Great Potential), and the stock is up huge again after positive results for this difficult to treat disease. The stock is hitting multi-year highs above $24, and the stock is up more than 600% since the first trial was completed. With a lack of alternatives for those that suffer from Lupus, HGSI’s Benlysta could be a major source of revenue for the company if it can now get approval from regulators.