@FierceBiotech: J&J offers $2.3B in bid for Crucell shares. Article | Follow @FierceBiotech
@JohnCFierce: Enter the bio-dragon. China taps biotech as one of 7 industries that will grow at 20%+ rate for the next 10 years. News | Follow @JohnCFierce
> Access Pharmaceuticals will sell 2.3 million shares of stock, worth $6 million. Another 700,000 shares will be sold via investors warrants. Access release
> After some recent troubles and a few buyout offers, Beckman Coulter ($BEC) has turned to analysts as it determines its future in either the public or private sector. According to Bloomberg, General Electric, Danaher and 3M have all expressed interest in purchasing a laboratory equipment company. Article
> Many drugs fail in clinical trials not because they do not work, but because they lack a proper delivery mechanism. News
> Arena Pharmaceuticals announced today the initiation of dosing in a Phase 1 clinical trial of APD811, a novel oral drug candidate discovered by Arena that targets the prostacyclin receptor for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH. Release
> During the recent swine flu pandemic, U.S. officials were bitterly frustrated by the need to rely on foreign vaccine makers to supply the bulk of the flu shots needed to calm an initially panicked population. Now WikiLeaks has put the issue back in the spotlight with its posting of the government's catalog of foreign vaccine facilities which could be vulnerable to a terrorist attack, threatening the country's vitally needed supplies. Article
> Developing a universal flu shot is one of the Holy Grails of the vaccine industry. But the long research road to the marketplace will be long and littered with challenging hurdles, according to scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Story
> Abbott Labs Canada appears in a list of the top 10 supply chain innovations of all time. Report
> MedGadget blog tells us about a new dry powder inhaler that, according to Cambridge Consultants and India's Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC), delivers an even drug dose deep into the lungs no matter how strong the patient's inhalation. Article
And Finally... Bioethicists, faculty and students at the Univesity of Minnesota are pushing for an inquiry into a student's death in 2004. After allegedly being coerced into participating in a schizophrenia clinical trial and being unable to withdraw, Dan Markingson committed suicide. The university's board will meet to determine further actions. Release