Inc. (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (New York) ND Nonexclusive deal to conduct a Phase II trial of a once-daily oral combination regimen consisting of BMS' NS5A replication complex inhibitor daclatasvir and Merck's NS3/4A protease inhibitor MK-5172 to treat chronic hepatitis C virus Merck will conduct the trial 4/23/13 Merck KGgA (Darmstadt, Germany) Pfizer Inc. (New York) ND Extended collaboration signed in 2002 by Merck's subsidiary EMD Serono Inc...Inc. (Whitehouse Station

Inc. (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) $86.5 Exercised option for Merck to exclusively license small-molecule compounds for a target in cardiovascular disease The companies inked the deal in 2009, and under the terms, Xenon received milestone payments and an option fee and is eligible for further research, development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $86.5M 4/18/13 MAY Hyperion Therapeutics Inc. (South San Francisco) Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (Montreal) $13-$22 Hyperion

Inc. (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) ND Deal under which Cerecor acquired rights to an NMDA antagonist, MK-0657, for development in the area of depression Cerecor will begin development and commercialization of MK-0657 in exchange for milestone payments and royalties 4/22/13 Epizyme Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) Abbott (Abbott Park, Ill.) ND Deal to develop a molecular companion diagnostic test for use with EPZ-5676 for mixed lineage leukemia Financial terms were not disclosed 4/19/13 Hawaii Biotech Inc

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., priced a $6.5 billion public offering of senior unsecured notes, including $1 billion of 0.70 percent notes due May 2016, $500 million of floating rate notes due May 2016, $1 billion of 1.30 percent notes due May 2018, $1 billion of floating rate notes due May 2018, $1.75 billion of 2.80 percent notes due May 2023 and $1.25 billion of 4

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 3, 2012.) In all, pharmaceutical companies collectively jettisoned 150,000 jobs worldwide over the past three years, according to a report earlier this year by PwC's Health Research Institute. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 8, 2013.) Founded in 1983 as Oncogene Science Inc., OSI developed cancer drug Tarceva (erlotinib) in partnership with Genentech Inc., now a unit of Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland

Inc. (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) Noxafil Posaconazole Aspergillus and Candida infections The NDA was accepted for review by the FDA 4/11/13 Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co

Inc. (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) MK-5172 NS3/4A protease inhibitor Hepatitis C virus genotype 1 Phase II data showed that ribavrin sustained virologic response rates at 24 weeks were 86% to 92% in the MK-5172 arm vs. 54% in the boceprevir arm 4/24/13 Transgene SA (Strasbourg, France) TG4040 MVA-HCV vaccine Genotype I chronic hepatitis C virus Phase II data showed a 40% improvement in decline of mean HCV RNA viral load in pre-vaccination arm C with 13 TG4040 injections initiated 12 weeks before

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., is facing a $100 million individual and class-action suit filed by Sanford Heisler LLP on behalf of all female sales representatives at Merck, alleging that the firm systematically discriminates against female and pregnant employees in assignment, promotion, advancement and pay and retaliates against female employees in violation of Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the New Jersey Law

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said the biologics license application (BLA) for its investigational ragweed pollen (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) sublingual allergy immunotherapy tablet was accepted for review by the FDA

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., to evaluate a monoclonal antibody candidate that Merck can opt to license

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said the FDA has approved Liptruzet (ezetimibe and atorvastatin) tablets to treat elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with primary or mixed hyperlipidemia as adjunctive therapy to diet when diet alone is not enough

agreed last month to an oncology-focused discovery and development collaboration in ADCs, with $15 million up front and up to $285 million in potential near- and long-term research, development, regulatory and sales-based milestones for an undisclosed number of ADC targets in oncology. (See BioWorld Today, April 8, 2012.) Last year, Ambrx signed a potential $303 million agreement with Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck & Co

Inc. (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) ND For the development of bispecific antibody therapeutic candidates 4/17/13 Notes: Currency conversions are based on exchange rates at the time of the deal

from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck & Co

Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck will have worldwide commercialization rights and would pay royalties to Abide

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said its board authorized additional purchases of up to $15 billion of Merck's common stock for its treasury

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., and Pfizer Inc., of New York, have entered a worldwide (except Japan) collaborative agreement for the development and commercialization of Pfizer's ertugliflozin (PF-04971729), an investigational oral sodium glucose co-transporter (SGLT2) inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of Type II diabetes

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., reported the FDA has designated lambrolizumab (MK-3475) as a breakthrough therapy for the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., and senior vice president of Merck Research Laboratories, said more than half of the 61 deals the company did last year – the most in its history – involved academic partners