Actelion kept at neutral by Merrill

Merrill Lynch analyst Erica Whittaker retained Actelion Ltd. at neutral after the company announced a co-development, co-promotional profit-sharing deal with Roche for Actelion's S1P1 receptor agonist. As part of the deal, Actelion will receive an upfront payment of $75 million and up to $550 million in milestones. According to the analyst, the deal could signify a growing trend for Big Pharma to pay large sums to a biotech company for an option on an early stage compound. Actelion reports its second-quarter results on Thursday. Shares of the Allschwil, Switzerland-based biopharmaceutical company were up CHF 5.20, or 4.19%, at CHF 129.20 on volume of 460,413 shares versus the three-month running average of 154,462 shares. (Switzerland: ATLN)

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