> Two late-stage trials of ceftaroline for bacterial pneumonia delivered the kind of data that Forest Laboratories says it can file with an NDA by the end of this year. Forest release
> Tough economic times are raising voices against Massachusetts' $1 billion biotech initiative, but proponents say that the $46 million in incentives handed out so far have spurred private investments of $357 million and created 950 jobs. Story
> Shares of Eurand sank after the company announced that the FDA is delaying a decision on its experimental pancreatic enzyme drug Zenpep. Report
> Seattle-based Oncothyreon says that its partner KGaA has begun a pivotal trial on Stimuvax for breast cancer. Report
> Bioniche Life Sciences says that it's been able to make progress dealing with its short term liquidity issues but won't meet a June 30 deadline for action. Story
> Amicus Therapeutics has launched a Phase III trial with Amigal for the treatment of Fabry disease. Release
> Vical has earned a $1.5 million milestone payment from Merck. Story
> Andromeda Biotech says that Teva has decided to exercise its option to market the company's Type I diabetes drug. Report
Pharma News
> Pharma may have just given health reform a much-needed boost. The details are vague at this point, but the headline isn't: Drugmakers have agreed to foot the bill for $80 billion in Medicare drugs over the next decade. Report
> Venezeula may join the ranks of patent-bucking countries. President Hugo Chavez says he's set on shaking up intellectual property rules because patents "have become a barrier to production, and we cannot allow them to be barriers to medicine," Reuters reports. Report
> Is Bayer's Yasmin line in trouble? A German newspaper over the weekend quoted sources saying that the company's pharma unit planned to cut contraceptive pill production by one-fourth this year. Report
> The gold rush to emerging pharma markets may come with an ironic twist. Just as the world's biggest branded drugmakers set their sights on developing countries, analysts are expecting those same countries to put generic drugs at the top of their lists. Report
> Jeff Kindler may want to thank the heedless bankers that drove the global financial system into crisis. Without them, Pfizer might have paid billions more for Wyeth. Report
Biotech IT News
> Healogica-Clinical Trials 2.0 is up and running. The website acts as a monster.com for clinical trials by pairing subjects and trials via a matching algorithm. Report
> Perceptive Informatics has bulked up its ClinPhone Randomization and Trial Supply Management (RTSM) technologies with a reporting solution that help users monitor trial progress and access study data and metrics. Report
> As if to compound the already tricky task of selecting a cloud computing vendor, we now appear to be receiving at least one announcement each week. Most recent is IBM, which has announced a set of commercial cloud services and integrated products for the enterprise. Report
> INC Research is incorporating Phase Forward's InForm Integrated Trial Management EDC solution into the global CRO's offerings. Report
And Finally... Are the the cognitively superior brains of humans, in part, responsible for our higher rates of cancer? Release