The drug is expected to launch in Canada in the second quarter

In a research note earlier this month, Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff called tedizolid a "differentiated MRSA drug," well positioned against both Pfizer Inc.'s Zyvox (linezolid) and Cubicin (daptomycin) from Lexington, Mass.-based Cubist...Beyond Pfizer, other big pharma firms also could be interested...In other financings news

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

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

In addition to Kim, we were joined by a long-time friend and medical consultant who's helping to vet oncology assets...In contrast to most partnering discussions in small suites, that meeting was held in a large board room with a long conference table

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

Data showed that treatment with up to three intramuscular injections of NurOwn in animals was well tolerated, with no adverse clinical effects observed...Elafin is designed to work by blocking the activity of enzymes that are involved in PAH, and it has produced pronounced and significant improvement of the vascular pathology, parameters of pulmonary hemodynamics and right ventricular function in an animal model...Tripheptanoin is intended as a substrate replacement therapy to restore deficient

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 expect to start a Phase I trial in the first half of this year...to-BBB Technologies BV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, entered a collaboration with the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) in Cambridge, Mass., to investigate potential treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

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