> India's large ICICI Bank has set aside a special fund to invest in biotech and pharma companies. Bank officials say the country's biopharma industry is growing by "leaps and bounds" while the banks investments in the field is increasing at a rate of 50 percent a year. Report
> ChemGenex gained the FDA's fast track for its leukemia drug Ceflatonin. Report
> Pfizer Animal Health has purchased Embrex, a vaccine delivery company, for $155 million. Report
> The FDA has lifted its hold on clinical trials of Immunomedics' epratuzumab for lupus. Report
> Canada's Ambrilia Biopharma has inked a licensing/distribution deal with TEVA Europe for its acromegaly therapy Octreotide. Release
> Is DTC advertising preventing universal healthcare in the U.S.? Report
And Finally…The Wall Street Journal's Alan Murray says big pharma bet the wrong way when it doubled down on Republicans in the midterm, and now faces a bitter pill as Democrats seek to make good on their promise to give Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices. Commentary (WSJ sub. req.)