Biotech shares up but pharma mixed

The biggest marriage in the drug industry’s history hasn’t provided the type of booster shot to shares of deal participants Pfizer and Allergan, nor has the merger provided a major lift to shares of other big pharma names.

If there’s been any semblance of steroid- like reaction, it was been in biotech stocks, which were solidly in the black Monday.

Not even the announcement of a record- breaking deal valued at roughly $ 160 billion could push shares of American drugmaker Pfizer ( maker of Viagra) and Irish- based Allergan ( maker of Botox) higher Monday. Pfizer’s stock fell 85 cents, or 2.6%, to $ 31.33 Monday. And even though Pfizer is offering $ 363.63 a share for Allergan, well above Friday’s close of $ 312.46, Allergan shares traded in the red post- announcement. Allergan was off $ 10.74, or 3.4%, at $ 301.72.

There was speculation on Wall Street that investors were expecting an even better deal, according to CNBC. There were whispers in the range of $ 390 or $ 400 a share, which could be a reason why Allergan shares are not reacting positively, despite the fact the deal not only creates the world’s biggest drugmaker but also marks the biggest so- called “tax inversion” deal. A tax inversion is when an American company shifts its domicile abroad as part of a merger, in this case Ireland, to get better tax treatment for its profits.

Stock reactions in the health care sector was mixed, with Biotech firm Amgen up $ 2.56, or 1.6%, to $ 162.47. The broader biotech sector, as measured by the Market Vectors Biotech ETF, added 0.5%.

More traditional drugmakers had a less bullish showing. Mylan fell 99 cents, or 1.9%, to $ 50.88; GlaxoSmithKline slid 71 cents, or 1.7%, to $ 40.41; Abbott Laboratories eased 57 cents, or 1.2%, to $ 45.44; and AstraZeneca lost 12 cents to $ 33.96.

On the upside, Johnson & Johnson rose 29 cents, or 0.3%, to $ 102.77, and Bristol- Myers Squibb climbed 17 cents, or 0.3%, to $ 67.99.