> Cephalon is cutting jobs as it restructures, shifting manufacturing work from Minnesota to Salt Lake City and relocating some R&D work from Salt Lake City to Minnesota. Report
> NitroMed is in trouble. The company is not only shutting down its sales force and laying off 70 of the 90 people work work there, but asking the investment bank Cowen & Co. to advise it on "strategic alternatives." Report
> IonGate Biosciences has garnered €4.6 million in its third venture round. Heidelberg Innovation and KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) led the round. Release
> Nycomed is looking for partners in the U.S. following the FDA's approval of Alvesco, its asthma inhaler therapy. Release
> ExonHit Therapeutics has created two commercial business units: the Molecular Diagnostics and Genomic Services Unit and the Therapeutics Unit. Release
> Germany's MorphoSys has acquired patent rights on protein inhibitors from the University of Melbourne, advancing its work on an experimental rheumatoid arthritis therapy. Release
> Teva Specialty Pharmaceuticals and UCB have signed a commercialization pact on Teva's respiratory products. Release
> MAP Pharmaceuticals and the FDA have reached a protocol agreement for a clinical study of MAP0004, a migraine therapy. Release
> Scientists in Singapore are advocating new rules that would permit researchers to splice human DNA into animals to further stem cell research. Report
> Research groups were left shaking their heads in disappointment over news that next year's budget for the National Institutes of Health--the largest single supporter of biomedical research in the U.S.--will boost spending by a meager 0.5 percent. Report
> Science has taken another big step in the direction of building new body organs from stem cells. A team of scientists have constructed a new rat heart, injecting cells from newborn rodents onto a scaffold of valves that were left intact after dead heart cells were removed. Report
> The European Commission has launched a pharma antitrust probe, looking for evidence that industrial hijinks are keeping new products off the market and delaying cheaper generics. Report
> It didn't take long for allegations of improper marketing from two Amgen sales reps to attract the attention of government watchdogs. First, the New Jersey Attorney General formed a task force to investigate pharma-doctor interaction. And now, perpetual pharma bloodhound Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) is sniffing around the cases. Report
And Finally... A new genetic test kit is being marketed that will give men an advance warning on going bald. Report