=Endo International (ENDP): FDA requests the removal of Opana ER pain killer

• The FDA requested the removal of Opana ER, an opioid pain killer, from the market. 
• Endo was also cut to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requesting Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. remove its Opana ER from the market over concerns about the painkiller’s links to injection drug abuse, in what the agency called its first effort to remove an opioid pain drug over abuse concerns.

The FDA said it concluded “the benefits of the drug may no longer outweigh its risks” given the drug’s association with injection drug abuse. Abuse of the drug via injection was linked to “a serious outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C”.