TearSciences wraps $44.5M Series C; San Francisco extends biotech payroll tax exemption;

 @FierceBiotech: E&Y: 2009 forever changed the biopharma industry. Report |  Follow @FierceBiotech 

 @JohnCFierce: So much for playing the InterMune price game. That will have to wait awhile. | Follow @JohnCFierce

> Morrisville, NC-based TearSciences has wrapped a $44.5 million Series C to back its work on new devices for dry eye disease. The medical device company is planning to introduce new products next year. Report

> San Francisco supervisors agreed to extend the city's payroll tax exemption on biotech workers, a provision passed six years ago to help woo new companies to the area. Story

> Osiris Therapeutics has won orphan drug status for Prochymal, its lead stem cell therapy, as a therapy for Type 1 diabetes. Report (sub. req.)

> As expected, the Montgomery County Council voted to back plans for a $10 billion "science city." Report

> GlycosBio and Malaysia's Bio-XCell will collaborate on the construction of GlycosBio's biochemical plant and biotechnology research and development facility within Bio-XCell's industrial park in Malaysia. Release

> The FDA has cleared to Illumina to begin marketing its BeadXpress system for multiplex genetic analysis. Release

And Finally... Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found that by applying chemicals to manipulate genes in a developing embryo, they've been able to change the brain of one type of cichlid fish to resemble that of another. Report