Another revised proposal to approve an amendment to the 2011 Omnibus Incentive Plan, calls for a limit to the amount of the requested increase to 75 million shares of common stock (in the earlier proxy, an increase of 155 million shares was proposed...plc, of Dublin, Ireland, said its board on Thursday rejected New York-based Royalty Pharma's revised offer to acquire all of Elan's shares for $12.50 per share through its shell subsidiary Echo Pharma Acquisition Ltd., stating that the bid "grossly

Proceeds from Merck's recently concluded debt offering were used to execute the ASR, which is part of the big pharma's previously disclosed $15 billion share repurchase program...Under terms of the ASR, Merck agreed to an initial delivery of about 99.5 million shares based on current market prices...Pfizer Inc., of New York, said it intends to split off its remaining interest in Zoetis Inc., of Madison, N.J., the former animal health unit that recently completed its initial public offering

The batch was only distributed to and sold in Switzerland, and the recall is limited to the specific batch and to Switzerland...The companies will collaborate to advance the potential companion diagnostic, originally developed by Lilly

The Cell Therapy Catapult, which focuses on the development of the UK cell therapy industry, said it will work with London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc to explore potential collaborations in a range of areas relevant to the development of cell therapies, from research projects to technical and regulatory strategy

In addition to RA and Crohn's, the pharma may develop GLPG0634 in psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome and lupus, mirroring the path by which the label on its blockbuster Humira (adalimumab) was expanded beyond RA...Helsinn Healthcare SA, of Lugano, Switzerland, and Vifor Pharma, of Villars-sur-Glane, Switzerland, signed an exclusive license and distribution agreement for netupitant-palonosetron fixed-dose combination, an investigational Helsinn product for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting

Fenofibrate Tablets are indicated as adjunctive therapy to diet to reduce elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoprotein B, and to increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adult patients with primary hypercholesterolemia or mixed dyslipidemia

The pharma also will assume responsibility for funding and clinical development beyond Phase II and for completing regulatory and commercialization activities...In addition to RA and Crohn's, the pharma may develop GLPG0634 in psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome and lupus, mirroring the path by which the label on its blockbuster Humira (adalimumab) was expanded beyond RA. (See BioWorld Today, March 1, 2012, and Jan. 3, 2013...Prior to the reacquisition, GSK experienced manufacturing issues and delays

The Paris-based big pharma, which gained rights to JAK drug SAR302503 in its 2010 buyout of TargeGen Inc., reported solid top-line data from the Phase III study dubbed JAKARTA, showing that both dose groups of the drug hit the primary endpoint of reducing spleen volume...Longer-term follow-up beyond the 24 weeks may be needed to tease out any differences," he wrote in a research note, adding that "clear demonstration of a survival benefit" could increase its threat to Jakafi

Mission Bay Capital committed to fund up to $500,000 per company...The company plans to use proceeds to repurchase common stock and for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of outstanding commercial paper borrowings and upcoming debt maturities

plc, of Dublin, Ireland, published a response to an offer made by Echo Pharma Acquisition Ltd. (Royalty Pharma) on May 2...Helsinn Healthcare SA, of Lugano, Switzerland, and Vifor Pharma, of Villars-sur-Glane, Switzerland, signed an exclusive license and distribution agreement for netupitant-palonosetron fixed-dose combination, an investigational Helsinn product for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, giving rights to Vifor to distribute the product in Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal

Quintiles will also contribute to Merck Serono's future trial design process

Common stock in Fibrocell Science Inc., of Exton, Pa., has been approved for listing on the NYSE Market, to commence trading on May 17, under the ticker symbol FCSC...The product is marketed by Genentech Inc., a member of the Basel, Switzerland-based Roche Group, and Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo...Genfit SA, of Lille, France, said GFT505 reduced a new component of cardiovascular risk, remnant cholesterol, contained in lipid particles other than LDL and HDL

In other news, closed its initial public offering (IPO) of 3.5 million American depository shares (ADSs) at $8.90 per share...Operating expenses for the quarter increased to $128.1 million compared to $66.8 million for the first quarter of 2012, with Jazz citing high cost of product sales due to a change in product mix and lower gross margin due to inclusion of products from the EUSA Pharma acquisition...PM01183 is designed to bind covalently to the minor groove of DNA to induce a specific degradation

Even after the news broke Monday – and the Theravance share price (NASDAQ:THRX) gained more than 14 percent to hit $40 – the entire company was still only valued at $3.94 billion...Editor's note: To obtain a CD of the webinar, "Royalty Financing for Biotech and Medical Device Companies: How to Determine Eligibility and Take Advantage of this Unique Financing Opportunity" or for a deeper dive, BioWorld's Biopharmaceutical Royalty Rates Analysis: Essential Benchmarks for Dealmaking, call 800-477-6307

Janssen Research & Development LLC, of Raritan, N.J., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, said the FDA granted priority review to its new drug application for simeprevir (TMC435), an NS3/4A protease inhibitor for once-daily administration with pegylated interferon and ribavirin for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in adults with compensated liver disease...Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., of Laval, Quebec, has provided additional information related to the proposal to continue

Even after the news broke Monday – and the Theravance share price (NASDAQ:THRX) gained more than 14 percent to hit $40 – the entire company was still only valued at $3.94 billion...Editor's note: To obtain a CD of the webinar, "Royalty Financing for Biotech and Medical Device Companies: How to Determine Eligibility and Take Advantage of this Unique Financing Opportunity" or for a deeper dive, BioWorld's Biopharmaceutical Royalty Rates Analysis: Essential Benchmarks for Dealmaking, call 800-477-6307

The big pharma said no agreement has been reached and it does not intend to issue further comments...We note that an acquisition of Warner could potentially offer a tax strategy as Warner has a lower tax rate

Acceleron Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said preclinical research conducted by Acceleron scientists on the ACE-536 program were presented at the 12th International Symposium on Myelodysplastic Syndromes in Berlin...Zhejiang Beta Pharma will own 51 percent of it and Amgen will own the remaining 49 percent...The split is intended to increase the per-share trading price of the common stock to satisfy the $1 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market

Under the terms, Adaptive will use its immune profiling assay, immunoSEQ, to identify potential biomarkers that may inform about drug response