Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, inked a licensing deal to develop and market in Japan an oral formulation of a pediatric beta-blocker for the treatment of infantile hemangioma requiring a systemic therapy

Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., said it plans to build a new manufacturing facility in the Tuas Biomedical Park area of Singapore...Construction is slated to start in the next few months...The vaccine is the first to be made in a 100 percent egg-free system without growing influenza viruses

The drug is indicated in combination with other antiretrovirals in HIV-1-infected patients with no darunavir resistance-associated mutations

Amarantus is developing MANF as a potential therapy for Parkinson's disease and other disorders characterized by stress to the endoplasmic reticulum and protein misfolding...The company's shares (NASDAQ:HPTX) rose 19.3 percent Wednesday on the news, gaining $2.32 to close at $14.32...NanoSmart Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Laguna Hills, Calif., entered a research collaboration with the University of California Los Angeles to continue the development of the firm's drug delivery platform for treating cancer

In other news, Evotec said a compound identified and optimized in a research collaboration with Osaka, Japan-based Ono Pharmaceutical Co...In separate news, Janssen reported that the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 10-5 late Thursday to recommend approval of canaglifozin, a selective sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor, to treat Type II diabetes in adults

The merger is expected to close as soon as practicable...It also licensed rights to an oral calcitonin tablet to Tarsa Therapeutics Inc., of Philadelphia, which is developing it for postmenopausal osteoporosis

said Amyvid (florbetapir F 18 injection) was approved in Europe as a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical indicated for positron emission tomography imaging of beta-amyloid neuritic plaque density in the brains of adults with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of cognitive impairment...Lilly acquired Avid in 2010 for $300 million up front, with another potential $500 million tied to regulatory and commercial milestones associated with Amyvid. (See

Ltd., of Tokyo, to develop drug candidates against protein-protein interaction targets...Telintra is designed to inhibit enzyme glutathione S-transferase P1-1...Shares will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange

Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, inked a research service collaboration with Horizon Discovery Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, to use Horizon's Discovery Toolbox for research projects and profiling of compounds at the hit-to-lead, lead optimization and preclinical stages to elucidate their anticancer properties and help guide drug discovery programs

was nominated to enter preclinical development, leading to the payment of an undisclosed milestone...The 2008 collaboration calls for Evotec to combine its high-throughput screening and fragment-based drug discovery platform to identify compounds active against a protease target

In separate news, Janssen reported that the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 10-5 late Thursday to recommend approval of canaglifozin, a selective sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor, to treat Type II diabetes in adults

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Wayne, N.J., said the FDA approved Skyla (levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system) 13.5 mg for the prevention of pregnancy for up to three years

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

In other news, Evotec said it expanded its collaboration with MedImmune, part of London-based AstraZeneca plc, after hitting a key milestone...Under the agreement, Pepscan will use its CLIPS platform and other protein mimicry technologies to help discover new antibodies

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

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

NGM Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, said it inked a worldwide deal with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a unit of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, to discover and develop therapeutics to treat Type II diabetes and other metabolic diseases...Ltd., of China, to design, synthesize and develop drug candidates against predefined targets in oncology...Savant HWP Inc., of San Carlos, Calif., said it received a three-year grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to support

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