> Sanofi-Aventis is shaving about 500 employees from the payroll in France to make up for slow market growth in the country. Most of the positions will be eliminated through early retirement or buyouts and most will center on the sales force. Report
> Santarus is adding 150 people to its sales force to beef up sales of Zegerid for GERD. Report
> Australia's Pharmaxis has won a key Swedish license for Aridol. Report
> PDI announced that Sanofi-Aventis will terminate its contract sales deal on Dec. 1. Report
> Cadence Pharmaceuticals has priced its IPO at $9 a share. Report
> Thermage has set its terms for an IPO. Report
> Eli Lilly's new biotech complex is two-thirds completed. Report
> Aptuit and SSCI announced today that Aptuit has signed an agreement to acquire SSCI, which is focused on crystallization, characterization, and chemistry of solid materials. Release
> Canada's Allon Therapeutics has raised $8 million in a private placement. Release
> Cellzome's research collaboration with Novartis has been extended to mid-2008. Release
> GlaxoSmithKline's marketing campaign for Requip, a restless leg syndrome treatment, has garnered the company a good deal of negative attention. Critics say the pharmaceutical giant publicized the disease through pharma rep visits to doctors, magazine and television advertising in order to create a market for the indication. Report
And Finally... As elections near, the stem cell debate is heating up. In this political ad, famous Parkinson's sufferer Michael J. Fox endorses a Missouri Democrat in favor of stem cell research, drawing a firestorm of controversy. Video