Drug stocks ebb and flow with the drug approval process, but a number of such companies have had healthy runs on IBD’s recent weekly rankings of the top 50 stocks.

The top drug stock of late, Biogen Idec, is part of IBD’s huge, 233-company Medical Biomed-Biotech group. So is Momenta Pharma. That group has ranked no lower than No. 6 over the past eight weeks. Our 45-company Medical-Ethical Drugs group has ranked no lower than No. 13 – of 197 groups – over the same span. That group’s leader has been IBD 50 stock Jazz Pharma. Longtime IBD 50 regular Perrigo is part of our 15-company Medical-Generic Drugs group, which despite Perrigo hasn’t been doing too well. It’s now No. 98. And Edwards Lifesciences, not exactly a drugmaker but close, is part of IBD’s Medical-Products group, which ranks No. 30.

Here’s a look at the top 5 drug stocks in the latest IBD 50:

20. Biogen Idec (BIIB). The maker of drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and more this month announced results of a study is says suggests there might be a novel way to treat MS, by blocking autoimmune response while promoting remyelination. “Our approach to finding new treatments for this complex disease looks beyond known pathways affected by current MS treatments,” Biogen researcher Sha Mi said in a statement. The company, as we pointed out in this Management story, has the top execs of major divisions work together to map tech trends as much as 5 years in advance, to guide and coordinate planning. The stock is slightly below a 107.09 buy point it hit on June 28. The next day, the stock hit an all-time high of 109.63. It earlier broke out in March thanks to good results for phase three trials of its BG-12 MS drug. For now, Biogen is awaiting final EU approval for its drug Fampyra, which helps MS patients walk. It’s approved in the U.S. under the name Ampyra.

27. Perrigo (PRGO). The maker of generic (some call them copycat) drugs has been on a roll for months, fueled by strong sales of store-brand cold medicines and vitamins. It’s the No.1 maker of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals that carry the brands of the chains that sell the drugs, such as CVS, Target and Wal-Mart. Consumers, especially in a slow economy, have been moving to lower-cost generics. In June, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Frank Pinkerton told IBD that store drug brands have been taking about 1 percentage point of market share per year from branded versions of the drugs over the past decade. Perrigo, meanwhile, also in the infant formula market, by virtue of its 2010 acquisition of PBM Holdings. Perrigo plans to have launched 50 new products by the end of 2011. The stock is trading just shy of its all-time high of 92.30, which it hit on April 28, and after a flattish June is now trading over its 10-week line.

43. Edwards Lifesciences (EW). The No. 1 maker of heart valves has been on and off the IBD 50, seemingly alternating week by week, for months. (So, it’s not exactly a drugmaker, but we’ll fudge on this one.) The market awaits expected U.S. approval, in Q4, of sales of Edwards’ Sapien aortic valve. The valve is designed to replace diseased heart valves and is a much-less-invasive alternative to open-heart surgery. It’s already being sold in Europe. The stock has tested its 10-week line for months, but it’s had a solid past couple of weeks. The stock is up nearly 10% since June 23, and closed Friday at 90.91, just shy of its all-time high of 91.82, which it touched on March 3.

45. Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ). This drugmaker first popped onto the IBD 50 on April 18, took a few weeks off, but has now been on the list three of the past four weeks. The company developed Xyrem, a prescription medication approved to treat cataplexy associated with narcolepsy and Excessive Daytime Sleepiness associated with narcolepsy. A sleep disorder, narcolepsy causes extreme drowsiness every three or four hours during the day, episodes that typically last about 15 minutes. Often, sufferers fall asleep. So sufferers, among other things, can face trouble getting and keeping a job. But “Xyrem is very effective at treating narcolepsy,” William Tanner, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, recently told IBD in our story about Jazz. The drug treatment costs at least $30,000 a year, but is covered by insurance. The company also makes Luvox CR, approved to treat social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The stock hit an all-time high of 36.47 on Tuesday, and trades just under that level.

48. Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA). The maker of both generic and novel drugs really got on the board almost exactly a year ago, when the FDA approved Momenta’s generic version of Lovenox, a blood-thinning drug from Sanofi (SNY) used in hospitals to prevent thrombosis. Sanofi fought the approval. Momenta partners with Novartis’ (NVS) generic unit, Sandoz. The FDA’s action was good news for generics in general, since it opened the door a crack to future approvals of generic biologic drugs. The day of the approval, July 23, Momenta’s stock soared 82% to 21.70, and rose another 20% the following day to a five-year closing high of 20.11. Lately, it’s been inching closer to that high, ending Friday’s session at 20.68. Momenta showed up on the IBD 50 on May 9, and has managed to stay on the list every week since.

Over at IBD's Capital Hill, Ed Carson reviews the IBD 50's top five companies for expected quarterly earnings growth.

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