Medtronic touts long-term valve data; Vermillion opens diagnostic lab;

@FierceMedDev: Luminex reports higher Q1 revenues despite earlier warnings. Article | Follow @FierceMedDev

@VarunSaxena2: Alere to sell stake in BBI Diagnostics Group subsidiary in bid to keep activist investor Coppersmith Capital Management at bay. | Follow @VarunSaxena2

@EmilyWFierce: It's a full menagerie in this week's issue of FierceBiotechResearch: Here's the issue | Follow @EmilyWFierce

@MichaelGFierce: ICYMI from FierceDrugDelivery: Imaging technique maps transdermal drug migration. More | Follow @MichaelGFierce

> Medtronic ($MDT) is touting stellar 5-year data for its 3f Enable device, a sutureless tissue heart valve, in which patients posted 93% freedom from valve mortality. The CE-marked device has yet to secure FDA approval. More

> Diagnostics outfit Vermillion has opened up a Texas lab to process women's health diagnostic tests, focusing first on ovarian cancer and later expanding into other gynecologic ailments. News

Biotech News

@FierceBiotech: Why would Pfizer want to buy AstraZeneca? It's not R&D. More | Follow @FierceBiotech

@JohnCFierce: And that PhII failure wasn't a failure. No sir. Not at all. It was a success. Because Concert says so. All perfectly clear now. | Follow @JohnCFierce

@DamianFierce: BMY's taking the rolling FDA submission approach with much-watched cancer drug nivolumab. Story | Follow @DamianFierce

@EmilyMFierce: Another chink in HIV's armor may point the way to a vaccine. More from FierceBiotech Research | Follow @EmilyMFierce

> Allergan woos J&J, Sanofi while keeping its eyes on Shire, per reports. News

> Amicus shares rally as a revised PhIII delivers positive Fabry data. More

> Bristol-Myers targets neurodegenerative diseases in $725M deal to buy iPierian. Story

Pharma News

@FiercePharma: Looking for more megadeal excitement? Don't look at Sanofi, CEO says. Story | Follow @FiercePharma

@TracyStaton: Why pay $100B for AstraZeneca? Let Pfizer's CEO count the reasons. A biggie = "synergies," i.e. cost cuts. More | Follow @TracyStaton

@EricPFierce: The FDA is letting Baxter import saline from a plant in Spain to help ease the shortage in the US. More from FiercePharmaManufacturing | Follow @EricPFierce

@CarlyHFierce: Allergan to propose to Shire again, but does Irish beauty want to get engaged? Article | Follow @CarlyHFierce

> The skinny on earnings: Cost cuts boost Merck, Bristol-Myers, Forest as FX hits Sanofi. Piece

> Pfizer's post-megamerger cost-cutting record? 51,500 jobs in 7 years. Story

> Reckitt is indeed after Merck's consumer unit, and it's ready for a close race. Item

Biotech Research News

> Another chink in HIV's armor may point the way to a vaccine. Article

> Protein found in naked mole rats could shed light on Alzheimer's, Parkinson's development. More

> Deadly MERS outbreak blamed on camels. Report

> Rutgers wins $26M NIH grant to help fill lackluster antibiotics pipeline. Report

> Preclinical study advances H. pylori vaccine for stomach cancer. Item

> Single molecule that targets both amyloid and tau could treat Alzheimer's. Story

Pharma Manufacturing News

> Sanofi supply-chain issues again put hurt on its earnings. News

> Baxter adds saline production from Spain to U.S. supply. Story

> FDA loses another top dog in quality to Mylan. Item

> Takeda snags another big subsidy for influenza vaccine plant in Japan. More

> Indian ban on Wockhardt plant lifted by top Indian regulator. Article