Shares of Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:VRTX]]) sagged again this morning after falling 7 percent yesterday on word that a prominent analyst had downgraded the stock in light of flawed trials that could delay the debut of its hepatitis C drug candidate by as much as two years. The Associated Press reported on Thursday that Wachovia analyst George Farmer said that as a result of the trials, Vertex would be forced to conduct new tests that could delay the launch of telaprevir until 2012, leaving the door open for competitors to gain. Vertex fell $1.71 yesterday to close at $21.44. In late morning trading on Friday, it was down another $0.47 (just over 2 percent), to $20.97.
Author: Robert Buderi
Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative.
Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.
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