HEALTH

Biotech Firm Halts Drug Development: Biogen Inc. has discontinued development of one of its two most important drugs, Hirulog, after the drug flunked a clinical trial. The Massachusetts-based firm said the anti-clotting medicine based on leech saliva failed to outperform a control drug, heparin, during a test on patients who underwent angioplasty. Biogen was trying to prove that Hirulog helped prevent complications from the procedure, in which doctors try to clear blocked arteries with inflatable balloons. The biotech company took a $25-million pretax charge against its earnings, which contributed to a third-quarter loss of $26.4 million, contrasted with year-ago net income of $11.3 million.