> A surge of hopeful research reports on the potential of stem cells has helped fatten profits at Cryo-Save. The company says its stem cell storage work jumped 41 percent last year. Demand is particularly strong in Spain and Hungary. Report
> MAP Pharmaceuticals says that a Phase IIa trial demonstrated positive results for MAP0005, a combination of budesonide, a corticosteroid, and formoterol, a long-acting beta2-agonist. Release
> Isis Pharmaceuticals is pocketing a $2 million milestone payment on the announcement that Bristol-Myers Squibb Company has selected a compound from the companies' collaboration as a development candidate. Release
> Chelsea Therapeutics has licensed the global rights to Active Biotech AB's 1-3D compounds for autoimmune disease and transplant rejection. Release
> Sirion Therapeutics is touting data from late-stage studies of Durezol (difluprednate ophthalmic emulsion) 0.05% for postoperative ocular inflammation. Report
> Just about everybody agrees that the FDA needs a safety overhaul--including Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, who recently admitted the agency is in crisis. The agency itself drafted a five-year plan that would channel user fees into more safety evaluators, epidemiologists, regulatory project managers, and risk experts, all to beef up post-marketing drug-safety oversight. Report
> Should drugs be labeled with their country of origin? Report
> Europe is debating drug marketing--and the pharma industry is loudly protesting that it is not asking for the right to pursue DTC advertising. Report
And Finally... A case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu has been confirmed in China, but authorities say it is another instance where the spread of the disease has been limited to a close blood relative. In this case an experimental H5N1 vaccine demonstrated that it could possibly vanquish the lethal virus. Report