ALSO NOTED: Brandt to helm Noven; Cougar launches Phase III; Wyeth cuts 1,200 jobs; and much more...

> Peter Brandt, a senior VP at Pfizer, has been tapped as the new CEO at Noven Pharmaceuticals. Release

> Cougar Biotechnology has started enrolling patients in its Phase III clinical trial of the company's lead drug candidate, CB7630. Release

> And the ax is falling again. Wyeth notified employees last Friday than another 1,200 jobs will be slashed from the payroll. Wyeth report

> Alexza Pharmaceuticals announced positive results from a Phase I clinical trial of AZ-007, an inhalation product candidate for insomnia. Release

> Pfizer is back at the negotiating table with the Nigerian state of Kano in an attempt to finally settle claims about a meningitis drug trial the government contends was conducted illegally. Pfizer report

> Wanted: CEO who can find a new "cash cow" to push a Danish drugmaker past impending patent expirations. Found: Ulf Wiinberg, lately of Wyeth, to take over Lundbeck. CEO report

> Call it a new pricing strategy. Bristol-Myers Squibb is preparing to launch the cancer treatment Erbitux in Canada after a two-year wrangle over cost. Erbitux 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... Australian scientists say that targeting angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) can be an effective way to spur weight loss and prevent diabetes. ACE inhibitor report