> Salix Pharmaceuticals will pay Napo Pharmaceuticals an upfront fee of $4.5 million plus take a $500,000 equity stake in the company in exchange for licensing rights to Napo's gastrointestinal agent crofelemer. In the deal Salix agreed to fund development of crofelemer. Release
> Renovo says its lead drug Juvista has reached its primary endpoint in a mid-stage trial for improving scar appearance. Report
> North Palm Beach, FL-based TransDermal Technologies got a $350,000 loan from the town of Jupiter. The fledgling company is developing technology that allows existing drugs to be injected through the skin. Report
> German regulators have approved ProStrakan's marketing application for Abstral, a treatment for breakthrough cancer pain. Release
> Joern Aldag is resigning as president and CEO of Evotec AG effective December 31. COO Dr. Mario Polywka and Dr, Klaus Maleck, CFO, will jointly lead the company until a permanent successor is announced. Release
> An outbreak of bird flu at a Hong Kong poultry farm is raising concerns as some of the birds that died had been vaccinated against the virus. That's an alarming sign that the vaccine may be losing its potency as new strains arise. Report
> The UK's Senexis and Australia's Alzhyme have forged a deal to cololaborate on the development of new Alzheimer's diagnostics. Report
> Wall Street may be gloomy overall, but analysts are upbeat on Onyx Pharmaceuticals. JP Morgan upgraded the company today on news that European physicians are poised to expand use of the liver cancer drug Nexavar. Report
> Yesterday, PhRMA released its new guidelines for drug marketing, but some in Congress are not impressed. Report
> A sharply divided FDA advisory committee votes today on whether to restrict long-acting asthma meds. Report
> The Massachusetts Legislature approved a sweeping ban on pharma gifts earlier this year, but now legislators are saying that the commission charged with implementing the law is falling short of its intent. Report
And Finally... This is National Influenza Vaccination Week, but it appears that millions of Americans won't be paying any attention. A new report from Rand shows that 30 percent of U.S. adults got the jab by mid-November. More than half taking the Rand survey said they would not be getting a shot. And only 17 percent said they still planned to get vaccinated. Report