Genzyme CEO sells shares; Canadian biotechs cheered by U.S. IPOs;

> Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer has sold off 200,000 shares of company stock he optioned at $26.50 a share. Some analysts note that the sale, at $50.47, may sour investors already hurt by the company's severe manufacturing problems. Report [1]

> Beleaguered by a tough market, Canadian biotech executives say they've been encouraged by a string of biotech IPOs south of the border. Story [2]

> Denmark's Bavarian Nordic says it will seek its first regulatory approval for its smallpox vaccine Imvamune in Canada. Story [3]

> Last Wednesday Idera Pharmaceuticals announced that Novartis is terminating their four-year-old research pact. When the collaboration formally halts Idera gets full rights to IMO-2134. Report [4]

> The FDA granted J&J's HIV drug Intelence full approval last week. Report [5]

> Sanofi's cardiovascular drug Multaq has won approval in Europe. Story [6]

> BioMarin says that one of the drugs it acquired in the deal to buy Huxley Pharmaceuticals has won orphan drug status from the FDA. Story [7]

> Lundbeck announced today that it is launching a mid-stage trial of an experimental augmentation therapy for Alzheimer's disease. Researchers will test whether Lu AE58054 can improve cognition and functional outcomes. Story [8]

Pharma News

> Just who is Abbas Hussain? We've heard a lot from the GlaxoSmithKline executive who's spearheading the company's push into emerging markets. And that push, of course, is one of Glaxo's primary strategies for growing sales as blockbuster drugs go off patent. But until now we haven't heard Hussain speak at length about his strategy. Report [9]

> AstraZeneca says it's not going to make drugs from scratch anymore. The company plans to farm out production of its active ingredients. All of them. Outsourcing article [10]

> Celegene could get a big boost from new data set to be reported next week. Revlimid, its best-selling multiple myeloma pill, could emerge as a first-line treatment rather than Johnson & Johnson's IV drug Velcade. Celgene article [11]

> Sanofi-Aventis sales reps are sitting by the telephone this morning, waiting to find out whether they still have jobs. Sanofi report [12]

IT News

> The pharma/social media attraction has its difficulties, even beyond the regulatory issues involving drug branding and marketing. Upsides in clinical trial recruitment are countered by downsides in adverse event reporting. Report [13]

> Contract researcher Beadsworth has tapped OmniComm's TrialMaster EDC solution for use in a Phase II vaccine study. Investigators plan to enroll 340 subjects in the 3-year, 10-site study. Report [14]

> MIT's 2009 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition has yielded an open source, Internet-based cellular engineering program to assist in synthetic biology design, and software tools for creation and assembly of DNA-sequence parts. Article [15]

> Argentinean CRO KLIXAR has signed onto Health Decisions' Agile Clinical Network for adaptive trial design. As a network member, KLIXAR will be able to tap best practices information and partnership opportunities. Report [16]

> Daily text-message reminders have yielded a 2x improvement in adherence to a treatment regimen among subjects in a dermatology study. Report [17]

And Finally... The World Health Organization says that the number of swine flu deaths around the world has surged significantly. As of last Thursday the official death toll stood at 7,826. Report [18]