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

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

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

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

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 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

PharmaIN Corp., of Bothell, Wash., and LAT Pharma LLC, of Chicago, said the FDA granted orphan designation for terlipressin for the treatment of ascites due to all etiologies except for cancer...Terlipressin is designed to reduce portal vein pressure and increase mean arterial pressure in cirrhotic patients with splanchnic vasodilation...Tranzyme Pharma Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., reported the successful completion of its chemistry-based drug discovery collaboration with New York-based

Public biopharmaceutical companies, which had a great year, by and large were not able to fully leverage their increased stock valuations, successful clinical results and product approvals into follow-on and other financings...The company paid $350 million in cash, with the remainder made up of milestones: $195 million related to the development and regulatory approval of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) inhibitor AVL-292, and up to $380 million in potential payments contingent upon the development

The company paid $350 million in cash, with the remainder made up of milestones: $195 million related to the development and regulatory approval of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) inhibitor AVL-292, and up to $380 million in potential payments contingent upon the development and approval of candidates generated from Avila's Avilomics platform. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 27, 2012.) On the other side of the coin, Medicis was acquired by Canada's largest specialty pharma Valeant Pharmaceuticals

According to ClinicalTrials.gov, the randomized, placebo-controlled ARISE trial will seek to enroll 50 patients over the age of 4, with a primary outcome measure of the proportion who achieve ALT normalization relative to placebo...Synageva's relative silence on the Phase III study – including lack of public confirmation the trial has begun to enroll – prompted M. Ian Somaiya, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., to sound a cautious note on the company's outlook...In other financings news

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

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.

Victory Pharma Inc., of San Diego, will pay $11,420,743 to resolve liabilities resulting from marking of Naprelan, Xodol, Fexmid and Dolgic, according to the Justice Department...Those alleged kickbacks included tickets to sporting events and concerts, spa outings, golf and ski outings, restaurants and many other events

NovaDel Pharma Inc., of Bridgewater, N.J., said it signed a preliminary agreement to sell its NovaMist technology to Australian public pharmaceutical company Suda Ltd...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

to Firdapse, a drug in development for Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome BioMarin agreed to invest $5M in Catalyst under a promissory note and note purchase agreement 11/1/12 Colby Pharmaceutical Co. (San Jose, Calif.) MannKind Corp. (Valencia, Calif.) $140 Deal for disease-specific antigen compounds and intra-lymph node injection (INLI) technologies from its MKC1106 cancer vaccine program Colby is paying up to $140M in up-front and milestone payments to MannKind, which also will receive tiered

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