ALSO NOTED: Salix gets approvable letter; Intermune drug hits the fast track; and much more...

> Should Fred Hassan (photo [1]) give back his bonus? That's what Forbes is asking this week, saying that the Schering-Plough CEO's 2007 compensation package was probably artificially inflated by the fact that sales-damaging study results were held back until early January 2008. Report [2]

> Salix says it has received an approvable letter from the FDA for balsalazide tablet studied as a treatment of mild-to-moderate active ulcerative colitis in patients 18 years and older. The company says it should be able to provide a complete response to the letter in a matter of days. Release [3]

> The FDA has put Intermune's drug pirfenidone--for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis--on the regulatory fast track. Story [4]

> Holmes Biopharma announced that its clinical research operations in Omaha, Nebraska have been disrupted due to a working capital deficiency. Release [5]

> MorphoSys has extended its research contract with Schering-Plough by a year. Report [6]

> Biophage Pharma has sold the assets of its Immunotox Labs Division to Validapro BioSciences Inc. for $400,000 in cash and the assumption by Validapro Biosciences of certain liabilities. Release [7]

> In a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Canadian drugmaker agreed to pay almost $25 million to settle claims that it paid docs and their office managers to get patients onto its Cardizem heart drug. Report [8]

> The FDA is warning doctors again that organ-transplant drugs CellCept (from Roche) and Myfortic (Novartis) have been linked to miscarriages and birth defects when taken by pregnant women. Report [9]

And Finally... A simple gene test may soon be available that will eliminate up to half of the potential patients for the therapy. Report [10]