ALSO NOTED: Genentech options Exelixis inhibitor; Millennium reports positive data for cancer cocktail; Immtech CEO takes a pay

> Exelixis announced that Genentech has exercised an option to develop Exelixis' XL518, a selective inhibitor of MEK which is currently in a Phase I clinical trial. Exelixis earns $3 million on the option. Release

> Millennium Pharmaceuticals has posted positive data in a study of a drug cocktail that includes its cancer drug Velcade. The combo was being tested on patients with multiple myeloma who were ineligible for stem-cell transplantation. Report

> Immtech CEO Eric L. Sorkin has volunteered to take a pay cut during this fiscal year. Release

> AVI BioPharma has acquired all the outstanding shares of Ercole Biotech it didn't already own. Ercole has been working on alternative RNA splicing technology. Report

> Calando Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Arrowhead Research, has asked the FDA for a green light to begin an early-stage trial of a cancer therapy. Report 

> For the first time, federal authorities are conceding a link between vaccines and autistic symptoms--just not the link activists thought. Report

> The venture capital group Perseus has pumped $10 million dollars into NanoBio, bringing its total investment in the University of Michigan spin-off to $30 million. Report

Most popular this week: Breakthrough reported in flu vaccine research. Report

And Finally...New Jersey, an aggressive suitor of biotech companies, is offering ImClone $32 million in tax rebates to woo it to the Garden State. Report