ALSO NOTED: Ventana and Roche forge confidentiality agreement; Rigel wins $3M payment; and much more...

> Ventana Medical Systems and Roche have made nice over a confidentiality agreement, raising the prospects of a takeover. One analyst says that Ventana would likely fetch more than $87 a share. Report [1]

> Rigel Pharmaceuticals will pocket a $3 million payment with the announcement that Merck Serono has exercised its option to add the Japanese territory to its current Aurora kinase collaboration that includes the lead product, R763/AS703569. Release [2]

> ThromboGenics has launched pre-clinical trials on its cancer antibody VPAC. Report [3]

> A team of researchers from the U.S. and Germany has found that community associated MRSA, a particularly virulent strain of staph infection, creates a peptide that causes immune cells to burst. Report [4]

> Sanofi-Aventis just got slapped with a class-action lawsuit on behalf of an institutional investor over Acomplia's FDA rejection. Report [5]

> A synthetic compound developed in the lab at UT Southwestern Medical Center mimics the cellular protein Smac, broadcasting a message to cancer cells that triggers their destruction. Report [6]

> One foundation isn't please with a spoof of Glaxo's restless leg syndrome ad. Report [7]

And Finally... Scientists at the Oregon National Primate Research Center are on the verge of announcing that they have developed a new technique for cloning embryos from adult monkeys. Report [8]