NEW YORK (Reuters) – After beating the market in 2011, healthcare stocks may struggle for a repeat performance this year as cash-strapped Americans keep putting off use of medical services and investors seek out faster growth stocks as the economy improves.

So far this year, healthcare has underperformed the broader market: The Standard and Poor’s Healthcare index is up about 4 percent compared to a 7 percent increase for the S&P 500 index .SPX.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Health regulators approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Kalydeco, the first drug designed to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, a rare genetic disease.

The Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday Kalydeco was effective in treating people with the life-shortening disease, which impairs the lungs and digestive system.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Health regulators approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Kalydeco, the first drug designed to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, a rare genetic disease.

The Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday Kalydeco was effective in treating people with the life-shortening disease, which impairs the lungs and digestive system.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa blood clot preventer has been associated with a slightly higher risk of heart attack or acute coronary syndrome, according to results of a meta-analysis of several studies reported in a major medical journal.

The relative increase in risk to comparative medicines was found to range from 27 to 33 percent, however the absolute risk increase for suffering a heart attack was only 0.27 percent, the authors of the meta-analysis said in the study published on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine online edition.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa blood clot preventer has been associated with a slightly higher risk of heart attack or acute coronary syndrome, according to results of a meta-analysis of several studies reported in a major medical journal.

The relative increase in risk to comparative medicines was found to range from 27 to 33 percent, however the absolute risk increase for suffering a heart attack was only 0.27 percent, the authors of the meta-analysis said in the study published on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine online edition.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Dendreon Corp (DNDN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said its high-priced prostate cancer vaccine was gaining acceptance with doctors and provided stronger quarterly sales figures as evidence of new life for a company many investors had written off last year.

Dendreon on Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter gross Provenge sales of $82 million — up from $66 million in the prior quarter. It said greater clarity on how U.S. doctors will be reimbursed for the $93,000 treatment had led more oncologists and urologists to use the drug. The news sent Dendreon’s battered shares up as much as 55 percent.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Tuesday it submitted data to health regulators that should squash cancer concerns tied to the company’s experimental weight loss drug lorcaserin, and believes it will gain U.S. approval.

Arena’s shares rose more than 14 percent in afterhours trade following the company’s statement.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Tuesday it submitted an official response addressing safety concerns of U.S. health regulators over the company’s experimental weight loss drug lorcaserin, and believes it will gain U.S. approval.

Lorcaserin, which is being developed in partnership with Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co Ltd, is one of three new potential obesity treatments rejected by the Food and Drug Administration over safety issues.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Takeda Pharmaceutical Co’s Velcade reduced the risk of death by 31 percent when used in combination with standard medicines in previously untreated multiple myeloma patients, according to five-year follow-up data from a late stage clinical trial.

The survival benefit in patients who received Velcade, known chemically as bortezomib, was observed in all analyzed subgroups, including those older than 75, patients with impaired kidney function and those with a more advanced stage of disease, researchers said.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Investors in Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may believe the company is paying too much to buy Pharmasset Inc (VRUS.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) at $11 billion. Emory University researcher Raymond Schinazi, who founded Pharmasset, knows by just how much.

“They could have had the company for $300 million or less in 2004. Somebody made a huge mistake,” Schinazi said in a telephone interview a day after the big deal was announced.