> Lab supply company Beckman Coulter announced today that it's combining its two purchases--Agencourt Bioscience and the newly acquired Cogenics--into a single genomic services resource. Release
> Endo Pharmaceuticals said COO Nancy Wysenski will resign to "attend to family matters." The company has started a search for her replacement. Report
> Drug delivery company Medical House said it's received a buyout offer, prompting its stock to shoot up 55 percent. Report
> The FDA's medical device Chief, Daniel Schultz, is stepping down after staff scientists said they had been pressured to approve certain products. Report
> The University of Cincinnati has joined Eli Lilly's Phenotypic Drug Discovery Initiative. Under the program, universities turn their research in areas such as cancer, diabetes and osteoporosis over to Lilly scientists to determine their potential. Report
> PTC Therapeutics said it received a $2 million milestone payment, as part of a collaboration with Schering-Plough to identify and develop a treatment for hepatitis C virus. Report
Pharma News
> The FDA's drugs chief has found herself in the crosshairs of a conflict-of-interest probe. The Wall Street Journal reports today that the HHS inspector general is investigating allegations from Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, which claims that CDER director Janet Woodcock has been playing favorites. Report
> Biogen Idec won't have much time to wait before a court considers negating its partnership with Elan on their multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri. Report
> The tug of war between Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson is escalating. Abbott is suing J&J over yet another autoimmune drug, Stelara, claiming that it's made using Abbott's proprietary technology, Bloomberg reports. Report
Manufacturing News
> To minimize risk to its newly cleaned manufacturing plant and to ensure that new supplies of the Gaucher-disease treatment Cerezyme will be available by the end of this year, Genzyme is discarding some 80 percent of the remaining in-process material. Report
> Millipore is establishing a beachhead extending its reach into Europe, the home turf of competitor Sartorius Stedim Biotech, through the acquisition of U.K.-based BioAnaLab, a specialist service provider for biologic drug and vaccine analysis. Millipore report
> Custom manufacturing of formulations and intermediate drugs in India is projected to grow at a rate of 43 percent, three times the projected global rate. Report
> Commissioner Margaret Hamburg's remarks at the Food and Drug Law Institute in Washington last week, in addition to putting the drug and food industries on notice about the new sheriff, were sprinkled with a few statistics and a little levity. Report
> Top among commissioner Margaret Hamburg's six steps towards a strong FDA are a 15-day post-inspection deadline for response by out-of-compliance companies, and then a formal close-out process in which the FDA certifies that the corrections have been made, both by letter and on its website. Report
And Finally... When new rumors surfaced of a potential Allergan buyout, we confess we skipped right over "anti-baldness drugs" in the long list of reasons why GlaxoSmithKline or Sanofi-Aventis might be interested in bidding. But Allergan officials gave some hints about just what that remedy would be. And lo and behold, they're talking about Brooke Shields' favorite eyelash grower, Latisse. Report