> Big Pharma may have been buttering up the Democrats lately with big campaign contributions, but Barack Obama's healthcare plan looks primed to hit drugmakers. According to Boston Consulting Group, Obama's plan to let the feds negotiate Medicare drug prices could take a big bite out of industry revenues. A $10 billion to $30 billion bite, to be exact. Report
> Gilead Sciences will be expanding its Foster City, CA campus. The company has entered into an agreement to purchase a building and adjacent land in Foster City for $137.5 million. The transaction is expected to close in January 2009. Release
> Researchers at Saint Louis University say they're advancing a new vaccine that could offer much better protection from tuberculosis than the current vaccine, which was created more than 75 years ago. Report
> Schering-Plough announced that its schizophrenia drug, asenapine, has met the primary endpoint in a long-term relapse prevention trial. Release
> Johnson & Johnson announced today that it has submitted a NDA for carisbamate, an investigational compound for the treatment of partial onset seizures in patients 16 years of age and older. Release
> Nektar Therapeutics today reported positive Phase 1 data for its lead proprietary oncology product candidate, NKTR-102. Release
> Bristol-Myers Squibb is prepping its shopping list for a buyout spree. Article
> San-Francisco-based biotech Vaxart, which developes oral vaccines, announced positive results from a preclinical study of the company's oral avian flu vaccine. The company plans to submit its IND and expects to begin clinical trials in 2009. Release
> A CDC advisory commitee has expanded the recommendations for Merck's PPV vax to include smokers and those with asthma in the 19 to 64 age range. It's likely that the CDC will adopt the panel's recommendations, which means an estimated 35 million smokers will be directed to get the jab. Release
And Finally... Take a couple of sugar pills and call me in the morning? Apparently, many doctors aren't bothering with aspirin anymore; instead, they're using placebo treatments on some patients. And the very nature of a placebo means that the patient often isn't in the know. Report