VIA gets $10M in financing; NC Biotech center asks employees to take unpaid leave;

> The North Carolina Biotechnology Center is asking every employee to take one unpaid vacation day a month. The state-supported agency said the move will save the center $250,000 a year. Report [1]

> Zach Hall, CIRM's first president and a current director of the New York Stem Cell Foundation, was at the White House Monday when President Obama made his embryonic stem cell research announcement. At the California Stem Cell Report [2], Hall blogs about his experience at the White House, and the what the historic announcement means for the future of stem cell research in America. Article [3]

> VIA Pharmaceuticals has entered into a $10 million secured note purchase agreement with Bay City Capital Fund IV and one of its affiliates. The company's lead program is VIA-2291 for the treatment of cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis. VIA release [4]

> Finland's BioCis Pharma has initiated a Phase IIa trial of it's ProtoCure emulsion cream in subjects with mild to moderate plaque psoriasis. BioCis release [5]

> A late-stage trial showed Sutent to be effective at slowing the progression of kidney cancer, so effective that the trial's monitoring committee recommended an early halt. Pfizer report [6]

> New Haven, CT-based CellDesign today introduced its first set of commercially available human stem cells likely to be used in diabetes and obesity research at large pharmaceutical companies. Report [7]

> Analysts remain divided on whether Astellas Pharma would come back with a higher bid for CV Therapeutics or abandon its hostile offer, after U.S. rival Gilead Sciences said it inked a deal to acquire the target for about $1.4 billion and CV once again rejected the company's offer. Report [8]

> Cash-strapped Northfield Laboratories says it expects a $1.4 million cash infusion from an institutional investor's purchase of convertible preferred stock. Report [9]

> Schering-Plough says a Phase II trial of SCH 530348, a novel oral thrombin receptor antagonist, was successful. Results demonstrate that the investigational antiplatelet compound met its primary endpoints of safety and tolerability. Release [10]

> The Massachusetts ban on gifts to doctors got its final nod from state officials this week, setting in motion a sea change in the way pharma will be able to interact with physicians in the state. Mass. report [11]

> Merck and Schering-Plough are getting worked over in the media, with everything from the "reverse merger" form of the deal--what's that about?--to possible spin-off sales up for discussion. Report [12]

> Roche plans to shed more than 1,500 jobs in New Jersey and relocate major operations to California as part of the Genentech takeover. Report [13]

And Finally... Google co-founder Sergey Brin is funding gene scans for 10,000 Parkinson's patients to better understand the disease's roots. The scans will be performed by 23andMe, the direct-to-consumer genetic testing startup co-founded by Brin's wife, Anne Wojcicki. Brin's backing will allow patients to pay $25 for the scan instead of the regular $399 price. Report [14]