> Indevus Pharmaceuticals says that the FDA has turned thumbs down on its new therapy for bladder cancer, a move that trimmed its stock value. Valstar was pulled from the market five years ago after an unstable ingredient was found in its original formulation. Indevus says that issue has been fixed, but regulators rejected its marketing application due to chemistry and manufacturing concerns. Deficiencies had been noted at a third-party manufacturing facility slated to make the drug. The company says it can sort out those problems in months and plans a new application with a request for a new inspection of the unnamed facility. Indevus obtained Valstar when it bought out Valera Pharmaceuticals earlier this year. Release
> Nektar Therapeutics has sweetened its deal with Baxter International to develop improved therapies for hemophilia. Under a pact extension, Nektar will be able to earn up to $44 million in upfront fees and milestones for its work on pegylated forms of hemophilia drugs. The new collaboration is an extension of a deal the two companies forged in 2005. Release
> Akela Pharma has become the latest biotech victim of a chilly market environment, abandoning its U.S. public offering as it explores alternative financing sources. Release
> Ligand Pharmaceuticals picked up a million-dollar milestone on Glaxo's submission of an NDA for Promacta. Release
> Vertex Pharmaceuticals is pondering the idea of consolidating its scattered operations in Cambridge into an office tower on the South Boston Waterfront. Report
> Novavax announced favorable interim results from a Phase I/IIa human clinical trial of its non-adjuvanted pandemic influenza virus-like particle vaccine candidate. Release
> Forbes Medi-Tech is asking shareholders to approve a reorganization that will allow it to undertake new financing options. Release
> Akers Biosciences chairman David Wilbraham has converted fees into 61,017 shares in the company. Report
> There's nothing like a whistleblower lawsuit to get a company riled. A former Pfizer exec has accused the company of using continuing medical education as stealth marketing for its cholesterol drug Lipitor. Report
> A copycat of Wyeth's Effexor XR could cut $500M off the company's sales. Report
> Now here's an op-ed Big Pharma can unite behind. In the Baltimore Sun, journalist and patient Naomi Wax assails the FDA for calling generic drugs exactly equivalent to their brand-name counterparts. Report
And Finally… Scientists have advanced a new nanotech process to engineer replacement blood vessels. Release