ALSO NOTED: Pipex downsizes; Merck chief got 80% pay hike; Biosignal licences tech;and much more...

> Late last year it was fashionable to talk about Merck's dramatic turnaround. So, how much was that vaunted turnaround worth? Try $14.5 million in compensation for CEO Richard T. Clark (photo [1]). Report [2]

> Pipex Pharmaceuticals eliminated 14 positions as part of a cost-savings move. Pipex is facing a likely delay refiling its NDA for oral tetrathiomolybdate for the treatment of initially presenting neurologic Wilson's disease. Release [3]

> Australia's Biosignal has agreed to license its anti-bacterial technology to a U.S. entrepreneur. Report [4]

> Vietnam is stepping up plans to boost its biotech industry so that it can be competitive with other countries in Southeast Asia by 2020. Story [5]

> Should the feds send out their own pharma reps? Wednesday, the Senate Special Committee on Aging will convene to discuss "academic detailing," which is essentially a straight talk express for pharma. Report [6]

> Cognizant Technologies has inked a five-year deal with AstraZeneca on the delivery of clinical data management services. Report [7]

> Drugmakers are having a more difficult time keeping patent protection on their products, the Financial Times notes. Report [8]

> Scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute used a new computer modeling program supported by the NIH to simulate how a lethal pandemic flu outbreak could hit a modern American city. Report [9]

And Finally... Adult-age offspring of parents who have both been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease appear to have an increased risk of developing the disease compared with the general population, according to a new report. Release [10]