BofA Downgrade Sends Achillion Plunging

[Stocks-to-Watch]

Shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals(ACHN) plunged as much as 17%*today after analysts at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch cut the stock to an Underperform from a Buy.

At $10.23 a share, the stock has fallen $1.43 a share, or 12.4% after more than 3.3 million shares changed hands. Earlier today, the stock fell to $9.52 a share.

Achillion focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of treatments for infectious diseases and is now testing five Hepatics C medications. And until today, takeout speculation has fueled big gains in the share price*which has more than doubled since October (it closed yesterday at $11.57 a share).

But analysts at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch argue that the surge in share price leaves no room for upside, according to DJ Newswires.

Hepatitis*C is a hot area for drug makers due to the size of the potential market, attracting the*likes of*Gilead Sciences (GILD), Merck & Co. (MRK), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY). In fact, Gilead spent $11 billion last month to buy Pharmasset and Bristol-Myers agreed to spend $2.5 billion to buy Inhibitex (INHX) for their experimental hepatitis C drugs.



Original Article Source by Barrons.com