> After cutting down to only a skeleton staff last spring, Xconomy reports that AdventRx has sprung back to life, filing an NDA for the anti-cancer therapy ANX-530 and planning to fund a launch with $19 million raised from a private placement. Report
> The FDA has provided a priority-review designation to InterMune's new drug application for a treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Report
> Iceland's Kerecis has closed a seed financing round with the New Business Venture Fund, which is owned by the Icelandic government. The Fund will receive 35 percent of the share capital in Kerecis through the subscription of new shares. Kerecis release
> Pharming Group has secured a convertible debt financing of Euro 7.5 million. Pharming release
> The FDA has cancelled an FDA advisory meeting scheduled to consider the use of Cymbalta to treat chronic pain. Report
Pharma News
> Patients with mental illness often aren't getting treatments that are "just right." In fact, recent studies show that too many patients are either undertreated or overtreated. Report
> Novartis may have thought it had Alcon in the bag, but the eye-care company's board is objecting. Not to the Nestle deal; that is in the bag. It's the offer Novartis made to minority shareholders worth $147 a share--less than the $180 per that Nestle's getting for its stock. Novartis report
> Genzyme has tapped Hospira for help with manufacturing while it cleans up its act at a troubled plant. Genzyme article
> France's approach to an over-abundance of H1N1 flu vaccine has stirred up fears--and critics. Article
Research News
> A team of researchers drawn from Cornell University, Colorado State University and the University of California, San Diego have tapped a new federal grant to study whether an innovative stem cell technique can regenerate cartilage. Story
> Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology say they've made a key discovery that should help accelerate work on an effective topical microbicide to stop the sexual transmission of AIDS. Report
> Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia have good news for prostate cancer patients: The discovery of a super-molecule that seeks and destroys prostate cancer cells. Story
> The NIH grabbed $10 billion of taxpayers' funds funneled through the stimulus bill, and NIH chief Francis Collins says the money was used to save or create 50,000 research jobs. Story
> Researchers in the UK are preparing to begin a human trial of a small-diameter artificial artery crafted from polymers. Up to now narrow artificial arteries have often failed to work in humans. But this new artery, developed at London's Royal Free Hospital, mimics nature and provides the pulse needed to avoid clotting. Story
And Finally... An increasing number of U.S. adults are being prescribed combinations of antidepressants and antipsychotic medications, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Release