MANF was superior to glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor in the study...Cangene expects to launch Varizig commercially in March, though the product will continue to be available through an expanded access program until launch

Pfizer Inc., of New York, said the European Commission approved expanding the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Prevener 13 (pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine [13-valent, adsorbed]) to older children and adolescents, ages 6 to 17, for active immunization for the prevention of invasive disease, pneumonia and acute otitis media caused by vaccine-type Streptococcus pneumoniae

Under the agreement, Pepscan will use its CLIPS platform and other protein mimicry technologies to help discover new antibodies...to purchase up to 1 million shares, or about 1.06 percent of the company's outstanding stock, at a price of $161.25 per share, marking a 4.46 percent discount to the Dec. 27 closing price

The companies will continue to jointly develop and commercialize the other assets stemming from the January 2011 deal...In separate news, Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Chadds Ford, Pa., also agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit alleging similar price-inflating behavior

Under the terms, Forest agreed to provide a license permitting Glenmark to launch its generic versions of Bystolic as of the date of either the later of three calendar months prior to the expiration of U.S. Patent No

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, and Pfizer Inc., of New York, said the FDA approved Eliquis (apixaban) to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nanvalvular atrial fibrillation...It's expected to be widely available by the end of this month

As seen in that study, the gold nanoparticles trafficked to tumors, not to healthy tissue, resulting in an improvement in the safety of systemically administered TNF formulated as CYT-6091...OJSC RVC, of Moscow, started a program to acquire new investments and support new projects in medical science and biotechnology, energy efficiency, information technology and telecommunications...The companies disclosed in August 2011 their decision to discontinue the development of pramlintide plus metreleptin

VaxInnate will continue to develop the vaccine under its existing BARDA contract, and Emergent will manufacture the pandemic influenza vaccine candidate using flexible manufacturing technology. (See BioWorld Today, March 2, 2011...K-V Pharmaceutical Co., of St. Louis, said the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved its settlement agreement with Hologic Inc., of Bedford, Mass., and authorized the company to enter into an $85 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing

Perrigo Co., of Allegan, Mich., signed a merger agreement for the acquisition of Cobrek Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Chicago, for $45 million. Perrigo acquired an 18.5 percent minority stake in Cobrek in 2008, in connection with a product development partnership agreement around foam dosage form generic products. As part of the merger agreement, Cobrek will forgo profit share payments from Perrigo in the second quarter of 2013.

Pursuant to the transaction, Coronado leased a manufacturing facility in Woburn, Mass...Ovamed agreed to assist in establishing the facility and to provide clinical supplies of the product until it's up and running...The company said it is now free to commercialize or enter into commercialization agreements for its oral BDP suite of products with other parties without limitation

The FDA acknowledged receipt of a new drug application for Eliquis in September and deemed it a complete response to its June 22 complete response letter requesting additional information on data management and verification from the ARISTOTLE trial

Its filing seeks to establish a fund for compensation of individuals and families affected by a nationwide meningitis outbreak linked to products distributed by the center...to grant Mati a 90-day option to acquire QLT's punctal plug drug delivery system for C$500,000 (US$503,000

In relation to the development of this potential therapy for pertussis, Synthetic Biologics has entered into an agreement with the University of Texas at Austin to license the rights to certain research and pending patents related to pertussis antibodies. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 9, 2012

Without admitting or denying allegations, Lilly consented to pay a civil settlement of $29.4 million and agreed to have an independent compliance consultant conduct a 60-day review of the company's internal controls and compliance program related to the FCPA...As part of the settlement, Sanofi agreed to pay $109 million to the settling parties and expects to enter a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services

Dendreon had constructed the facility to manufacture autologous cellular immunotherapy Provenge (sipuleucel-T), but slower-than-anticipated sales of the prostate cancer vaccine prompted the firm to wind down manufacturing at the New Jersey facility as part of a restructuring plan. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 1, 2012...Based on the outcome of that meeting, Evolva said the next step is to set up a study protocol and file the clinical trial application for a dose-ranging study in diabetics

Allergan Inc., of Irvine, Calif., said it completed the acquisition of SkinMedica Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., for about $350 million.

Flutemetamol, an investigational positron emission tomography imaging agent, to support Merck's development of MK-8931, an oral, beta-amyloid precursor protein site cleaving enzyme inhibitor in development for Alzheimer's disease...Shire plc, of Dublin, Ireland, reported a positive outcome from the European Decentralised Procedure for Elvanse (to be known as Tyvense in Ireland), indicated as part of a comprehensive treatment program for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, ages 6

reported a method to manufacture seven distinct types of cartilage, bone and tendon cells from human embryonic stem cells in a paper published online in Regenerative Medicine...Gentium expects to receive an opinion from the agency regarding the approval of defibrotide during the first quarter of 2013...Paladin expects to launch Silenor in the middle of 2013

BIT225 is designed to specifically target HIV in reservoir cells to stop the ongoing cycle of infection in the body...Those and other data were presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in Atlanta