ALSO NOTED: Analysts predict trouble for second-gen Rituxan; Sucampo earns $50M on FDA approval;and much more...

> Jim Reddoch, a biotech analyst with Friedman, Billings & Ramsey, is raising some interesting questions about Genentech's second-generation anti-CD20 antibody that is in development as a more benign version of Rituxan. Given the recent trial failure in lupus, Reddoch tells Pharmalot that he's more skeptical about its chances when the more potent Rituxan fails to hit endpoints in a trial. And that could eliminate a potential "growth area" for the biotech giant. Report

> Sucampo has won a $50 million milestone payment on the FDA's approval of a new indication for Amitiza. Report

> A JDRF collaboration between Johns Hopkins researchers and Genentech has shown that a drug for the treatment of diabetic eye disease--ranibizumab--has performed better in clinical trials than the current standard treatment using laser surgery. Release

> Metabasis Therapeutics announced Monday that its experimental therapy for type 2 diabetes hit its endpoints in a Phase IIa trial. Release

> What's bad for Merck is good for Abbott Labs. When the FDA said "no" to Merck's niacin-based cholesterol treatment Cordaptive, it raised the prospects for Abbott's extended-release form of niacin, Niaspan, and its regular niacin drug Simcor. Abbott report

> The FDA finally put its mouth where the money is. During congressional hearings yesterday, CDER chief Janet Woodcock said the agency would need $225 million to $250 million in additional funding to inspect foreign plants as frequently as it does in the U.S. FDA report

> Consider this scenario from Fred Hassan's nightmares: The $800 million Clarinex, ostensibly under patent till 2020, falls early victim to generic competition. Clarinex report

> Last fall AstraZeneca EVP David Smith said the company was looking to outsource most of it manufacturing, but then backpedaled after the ensuing outcry. Now the company has affirmed a big chunk of those outsourcing plans. Outsourcing report

> Management consultant Dr. David A. Shaywitz has joined with Dr. Dennis A. Ausiello, the physician-in-chief of Massachusetts General Hospital and a director at Pfizer, to deliver a rebuttal to a small group of research scientists who have sworn off any industry-financed drug research work. Report

> Pfizer is providing $14.4 million to fund a research consortium involving four universities and Entelos, a company that does computer modeling for drug research work, in a drive to create a new class of diabetes drugs. Report

And Finally... Two new human trials of a gene therapy for inherited blindness have demonstrated that injecting replacement genes under the retinas of the blind can spur at least partial sight in some volunteers. Report