> ProStrakan has drawn down 5 million pounds of debt so it can buy up distressed assets. Report
> GenVec is touting new, late-stage data supporting TNFerade as a treatment for locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Story
> Theravance announced that NASDAQ halted trading of its common stock this morning. The Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee to the FDA meets today to review and discuss the company's NDA for telavancin. Release
> SciClone Pharmaceuticals has raised $6 million in debt financing. Report
> In a groundbreaking development, scientists have taken a donated organ, stripped its cells and used it as a scaffold to create a new trachea from the patient's stem cells. Doctors subsequently transplanted the organ in a young woman whose windpipe had been destroyed by tuberculosis. Report
> Albany Molecular Research (AMRI) announced this morning an agreement with Teva Pharmaceuticals and Barr Laboratories to settle patent infringement litigation. The settlement involved the U.S. dispute over Allegra and Allegra D-12 between Teva, Barr and Sanofi-Aventis. Report
> Knopp Neurosciences said its current investors exercised $6.6 million in Series B2 warrants, raising the company's total capitalization to $27 million. Release
> A report released in the new issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association said that Genentech's blockbuster cancer drug, Avastin, could raise the risk of blood clots by about 12 percent, which means a risk of blood clots that is about 33 percent higher than that of patients not on the therapy. Study authors have recommended Avastin for the FDA's 'black box' warning. Report
> Dr. John Jenkins, the director of the FDA's Office of New Drugs, says that among the agency's top concerns are the cardiovascular risks associated with many drugs aimed at treating chronic conditions, like pain and diabetes. Report
> An FDA advisory panel discussed modifying the labels of wrinkle injection products as experts learn more about the risks associated with the injections. Report
> Viral Genetics, a biotechnology company that discovers and develops immune-based therapies, today announced it has completed its acquisition of V-Clip Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Bavarian Nordic is set to receive another milestone payment of $25 million from the U.S. government. This milestone payment was triggered by the submission of a clinical safety report from a large Phase II study with IMVAMUNE in HIV infected subjects. Release
> Are all antidepressants alike? That's the question on the minds of many patients and clinician's following the release of a new clinical practice guideline by the American College of Physicians published in the latest issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. Report
> The FDA today opened an office in China's capital city Beijing to help monitor imports to the United States. The office is the first FDA office beyond the borders of the U.S. Report
> Amid increasing reports of safety issues regarding antipsychotic medications in adults (particularly in the elderly), are reports that children are receiving antipsychotic medications at alarming frequency. Report
> Arete Therapeutics today announced that it has closed the final tranche of its Series A financing. Frazier Healthcare Ventures and Alta Partners co-led the $16.7 million tranche, which completes the Series A round, bringing the total amount raised to date to over $51 million. Release
Industry Voices: NICE tries to expand healthcare coverage
Special Report: Top 5 layoffs of 2008
And Finally... FOXBusiness takes a look at the work being done to make New York City a biotech hub. Two new complexes are in the works and there's plenty of top science talent. But there is that extraordinarily high cost of doing business in the city. Report