Lonza extends takeover talks with Patheon; Keryx reaps $20M from stock sale;

> The Lonza Group says it is extending its takeover talks with Canada's Patheon, which provides contract development and manufacturing services to biotech and pharma companies. Report

> Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) earned $500,000 from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from a research partnership regarding inflammatory diseases. Release

> Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) says it expects to reap about $20 million from the sale of eight million shares. Report

> Cell Therapeutics (CTIC) says that it has completed closing its preclinical development facility in Bresso, Italy. The company gained $1.1 million from the sale of assets. Story

Pharma News

> Swiss officials are jumping into the debate over the safety of Bayer's (BAYRY) contraceptives, investigating a possible link between the deal of a woman from a blood clot 10 months after she was prescribed the low-dose pill Yaz. Both Swissmedic and an investigative judge are probing the death. Report

> Novo Nordisk (NVO) will likely increase its workforce in India by 400 over the next three to five years, the drugmaker said in an interview with Danish daily Jyllands-Posten today. Report

> Concerned by post-marketing cases of pancreatitis, FDA is adding the reports to labeling on Merck's diabetes drug Januvia (sitagliptin) and a combo form of the drug, Janumet. Report

Biotech IT News

> When is a clinical trial management system not a CTMS? When it's clinical trial operations (CTO) software for planning, forecasting, outsourcing and project tracking. And it harmonizes operations across clinical planning, outsourcing, finance and outside stakeholders. ClearTrial is unveiling such a system today, version 3.0 of its CTO software. Exclusive report

> United BioSource has acquired drug safety software maker Gigamoto Technology Partners. The acquisition, says UBC, is part of a strategy to build integrated capabilities in risk management and drug safety. Report

> More than half of new clinical trials are expected to use electronic data capture technology this year, says Martin Young, VP for corporate development at Phase Forward. Report

> Clinical researcher Health Decisions has rolled out Monitor View, an add-on to its recently launched HD360Ëš trial management platform. The new module supports proactive management by clinical trial monitors. Report

And Finally... A long-running study on bighorn sheep is helping to shed light on the personality differences to be found among men. They focused on two extreme types: One that could be characterized as "live fast and die" and the other as "slow and steady wins the race." Release