Shares in Amgen Inc. hit a 52-week high on Thursday as investors shrugged off a U.S. Supreme Court decision that will allow a class-action lawsuit against the biotech company to move forward. Shares started the day at $91, hit a high of $93.45 in midday trading on the Nasdaq, before settling down to close at $91.55, a gain of 52 cents, or half a percent. The court on Wednesday ruled 6-3 against the firm, which had sought to block a securities-fraud lawsuit by investors who allege the company downplayed health risks of two of its anemia drugs, which led to inflated share prices. The company had argued the case should not go forward because the plaintiffs could not prove that withholding the information about Aranesp and Epogen had led to a rise in share prices. But the court said that issue was a matter for a pre-trial hearing. The case will now return to trial court. Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was halting pediatric drug trials of the company’s drug Sensipar following the death of a 14-year-old patient. The agency has not yet determined what role the rug played, if any, in the child’s death. There was some good news for the company, though. Shares rose early in the week on the recall of anemia drug Omontys, manufactured by rival Palo Alto pharmaceutical company Affymax Inc.
