GenoLogics raises C$5 million; Pfizer eyes generic growth;

> Canada's GenoLogics has raised $5 million in financing. The money will be applied towards ongoing expansion plans. Report [1]

>  A company executive told a German newspaper that Pfizer's recent deal with Aurobindo Pharma wouldn't be enough to satisfy its appetite for growth in the copycat drugs business. Pfizer report [2]

> Flamel Technologies has earned an additional $4 million milestone from GlaxoSmithKline pursuant to its Micropump license agreement for Coreg CR. Flamel release [3]

> According to the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation's CEO, the biotech industry there is on track to deliver a five percent contribution to the country's gross domestic product by 2020. Report [4]

> Rhode Island-based biotechnology company MultiCell Technologies is teaming up with Maxim Biotech under cooperative research and development agreement to develop products for studying liver stem cells and liver cancer. Report [5]

> For months we've been speculating and wondering about President Obama's FDA picks. Now that we know who they are--Margaret Hamburg as commish, Joshua Sharfstein (photo [6]) as chief deputy--what's the word? Well, within the pharma industry, the word is "worried." Report [7] | Poll: Is Sharfstein a good pick? Vote [8]

> The Harvard child psychiatrist who's been in the news over potential conflicts of interest is now trying to persuade a judge to seal some court documents that detail interactions with Johnson & Johnson. The documents--and his testimony--"could be immensely damaging to him, both personally and professionally," his lawyers claim. Report [9]

> Centocor has developed a fellowship program with the University of Michigan to diversity its talent pipeline. The program will allow postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to develop their research projects at Centocor. Release [10]

> The cold, hard statistics are in: Prescription drug sales grew by an anemic 1.3 percent in 2008 to $291 billion, according to research from IMS Health. Report [11]

> Stymied by a fruitless 25-year search for an AIDS vaccine, some investigators are taking a radically different approach to protecting people from a virus that claims more than two million victims each year. Report [12]

> Rockville, MD-based Emergent Biosolutions says it plans to add up to 93 and invest $10.9 million in improvements at its Lansing, Michigan facility. Report [13]

And Finally... Advertising spending among pharmaceutical companies dropped 18.4 percent in 2008, from $5.3 billion to $4.3 billion, due in part to the bleak economic landscape and to a decrease in drugs on the market. Report [14]