> UBS is getting more aggressive about forging 'bought' deals with biotech companies. Despite the economic crisis that has roiled the financial industry and UBS, the bank has completed four biotech deals this year, agreeing to buy shares at a discount in expectation of making money in a resale. It has raised funds for InterMune, Seattle Genetics, Allos Therapeutics and Geron. Report
> After 20 years in R&D, researchers are about to begin a big late-stage study of the malaria vaccine RTS,S. GlaxoSmithKline, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others have provided more than $400 million in funding. Story
> Fate Therapeutics and Stemgent have partnered to offer advances in induced pluripotent stem cell technology for research. Story
> PharmaVentures announced today that it has been engaged by Merck to advise and assist in divesting its research center, the IRBM, located near Rome. Release
> Contract drug manufacturer Patheon is urging shareholders to reject a $2 a share offer from JLL Partners. Report
> Do you have the stamina for three more pharma mega-mergers? Urch Publishing says you should brace yourselves. Pfizer's hook-up with Wyeth will alter the pharma world so profoundly that companies not looking for a big buyout may be forced to change their minds, the research firm predicts. Report
> Pfizer shareholders are on the cutting edge. At yesterday's annual meeting, they approved a proposal to ask the board of directors for an advisory vote on executive compensation. Pfizer report
> At yesterday's J&J shareholder meeting, CEO Bill Weldon said the company is 'not sitting back' on the Schering-Plough/Remicade issue. Report
> Two big cancer stories today, and it's not even time for ASCO yet. First, a battle for Europe's lung cancer patients is brewing, as an old AstraZeneca drug gets a new lease on life from personalized therapy--and Roche aims for the same market. Second, Novartis is putting its new kidney cancer drug Afintor through its paces in other forms of the disease. Report
> Eli Lilly execs are high-fiving now that a district judge has blocked Teva Pharmaceutical's launch of an Evista copycat. Report
> The CDC has mustered a group of 50 scientists and epidemiologists to study a rare new strain of swine flu that afflicted two children in the San Diego area last month. Report
> A new study published in Infection and Immunity says that an experimental vaccine against C. jejune, a major cause of traveler's diarrhea, worked to protect mice and monkeys in a clinical study and may well prove effective in humans as well. Report
And Finally... Scientists have been able to add metal to spider silk, making a new material that could be used to make artificial bones and tendons. Report