@FierceBiotech: Merck to buy SmartCells in $500M deal. News | Follow @FierceBiotech
@JohnCFierce: After glancing over the Orexigen notes, I didn't see anything that hasn't been discussed before. Clear safety issues is a big deal for developers. | Follow @JohnCFierce
> After five years of net losses, Palatin Technologies has received a notice from NYSE Amex that it is not in compliance with listing standards. The company has less that $6 million in required equity. The company expects its stock will continue to be listed while it enters the compliance process. Palatin release
> Metrigen, a Burlingame, CA biotech that closed in 2008, is being sued for its alleged illegal dumping processes as the business ended. According to Deputy District Attorney Todd Feinberg, the company's owners paid a moving company $200 to move toxic and hazardous chemicals in cardboard boxes, some of which were left in water or in recycling bins. Article
> The European Patent Office has supported Alnylam's patent for RNA interference drugs, despite competitors' (including Alnylam's former partner Merck) challenges that the molecules used to make the drugs were patented by others. News
> Celtaxys, a drug discovery start-up based in Georgia, has selected Dr. Michael Hanley as their new CEO. Hanley was previously Amylin Pharmaceutical's Chief Scientific Officer, and has been on Celtaxys' Board since 2007. Celtaxys release
> Sequenom is down more than 4.5 percent in early morning trading, to a recent $6.50, as company said it was pricing 14 million shares of its stock at $6 a share. Article
> Takeda has moved further into the vaccines business with the finalisation of a deal with Baxter International for the use of the U.S. firm's cell culture technology for the manufacture of a pandemic flu vaccine. Article
And Finally... Using magnetic resonance imaging technology, a group of researchers has identified three distinct "neural signatures"--markers that can potentially be used to identify autism at an early stage. Report