Australian biotech market watch 17/07/09

It's been a market of ups and downs over the last few weeks, with the All Ordinaries recovering much of the losses from last week, even tipping over the 4,000 for the first time since July 15. As of 4pm this afternoon, it sits at 3,988, up 5.5% from Monday's open.

The health indices haven't fared quite so well, remaining level throughout the week, except for a brief peak on Thursday which was subsequently scuppered in today's trading.

Ansell (ASX:ANN) has slowly climbed all week to a peak of $9.08 on Thursday, although dropping back to $8.71 this afternoon.

Cochlear (ASX:COH) fell fractionally after declaring that profits wouldn't be as high as expected, mainly due to currency machinations. It currently rests at $51.61.

Respiratory care device manufacturer, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (ASX:FPH) has had a good week, up 5% from Monday's open, including seeing a two month high around midday of $2.45. It has since dropped marginally to $2.38.

Good news and bad news for Occupational & Medical Innovations (ASX:OMI), which today announced it has landed a potential contract with an undisclosed US company for its Auto-Retractable Safety Syringe, which could be worth US$50m. This comes hot on the heels of a revenue downgrade and the expectation of a loss of between $4.4m and $4.6m for the 08-09 financial year, mainly due to ongoing litigation costs in the US. OMI is up today 22% to $0.220.

Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RMC) has seen steady gains all week, ending at $11.05, up 2% since Monday.

Sonic Health Care (ASX:SHL), which has been losing ground since July 1, recovered strongly this week after an announcement it will acquire German health care company, Lademannbogen Laboratory. It is up nearly 8% this week to $12.20.

CSL's (ASX:CSL) woes continue, with a Missouri hospital suing the biopharmaceutical company for allegedly price fixing on blood plasma products. CSL has also has wrestled with competing issues of increased demand for influenza vaccine, its abandoned merger with US Talecris Biotherapeutics and recent share buy backs and issues. It's down nearly 1% today to $29.86.

Not everyone's been having a bad day; Cellestis (ASX:CST) is up 14% to $3.55, a high for this calendar year.

Sirtex (ASX:SRX) had an enviable week last week, leaping from $3.44 on Wednesday to $4.20 today after a boosted profit announcement based on favourable currency exchanges and demand for its SIR (Selective Internal Radiation) Spheres. This week it lost some of those gains, falling 2% today to $4.08.