ALSO NOTED: Strativa acquires Onconase rights; Neurocrine gets new CEO; SAFC plans biologics expansion; and much more...

> Strativa has acquired commercialization rights to the late-stage Onconase from Alfacell. Onconase is in Phase III for inoperable malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. Alfacell gets $5 million up front and another $30 million on FDA approval. Report [1]

> Chutes & Ladders: Gary Lyons is stepping down as CEO of Neurocrine Biosciences, making way for COO Kevin Gorman, Ph.D. Lyons will stay on the board. Release [2]

> SAFC is planning a $12 million expansion of its biologics manufacturing facility. Release [3]

> VGX Pharmaceuticals announced that the FDA accepted the Investigational New Drug application for its lead anti-inflammatory compound, VGX-1027. Release [4]

> Molecular Partners inked a collaborative research and license deal with Centocor Research & Development. The collaboration will focus on the development of DARPins--Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins--a novel class of therapeutic proteins to treat inflammatory diseases. Release [5]

> Call it the comeback kid. Tysabri nabbed a new indication from the FDA yesterday, as a second-line treatment for the intestinal disorder Crohn's disease. Report [6]

> If GlaxoSmithKline can challenge Merck to a head-to-head trial (Cervarix versus Gardasil), then AstraZeneca can throw down the gauntlet before Pfizer. In this case, the products in question are statins--AstraZeneca's Crestor and Pfizer's Lipitor. Report [7]

> Gardasil captured more territory for Merck and Sanofi-Aventis yesterday when French health officials recommended that vaccine against Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV. Report [8]

> It's a pile-on. Experts and non-experts alike are expounding on yesterday's dismal ENHANCE results [9]. For every cardiologist of unshaken faith, there are a half-dozen or more detractors gleefully trashing Merck and Schering-Plough. Report [10]

And Finally… A landmark case [11] aimed at requiring drug developers to make experimental therapies available to dying patients ended in a dead end yesterday as the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Article [12]