Biz Brief: Mylan Reportedly Probed by SEC

Generic drugmaker Mylan (MYL) is being probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission over whether it shared confidential information about its third-quarter earnings with a few select investors before making it public, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The SEC is said to have contacted several investment banks for details on an analyst meeting held in September 2009. The next day, the drugmaker's shares rose 7% on three times the previous month's average daily volume.

A company spokesman told the Journal, Mylan is "confident the communications made during the conference were entirely appropriate."

Mylan's third-quarter earnings released on Oct. 29 were better than expected and its shares rose 5%. The WSJ also quotes two UBS analyst reports that include comments such as: "given management's comments at the analyst meeting a month ago, expectations were high going into the quarter."