The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is requesting biomedical research proposals that use interactive digital media to engage the crowd in acquiring big data. Under its Big Data to Knowledge funding opportunity, the NIH will support applications that present challenging biomedical research problems and propose the development of interactive digital media that incorporates crowdsourcing as a fundamental component of how the problem is solved.

In a case that could limit the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) reach in challenging pay-for-delay settlements, a federal appeals court Friday ruled that a lower court was correct in denying the commission access to documents about a co-promotion deal Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. reached with Barr Laboratories Inc. as part of a patent settlement. In the 2008 patent settlement, Boehringer agreed to allow Barr to market generic versions of Aggrenox (aspirin/dipyridamole) and Mirapex (pramipexole) several months ahead of their patent expirations. In a related co-promotion agreement, Barr signed on to help Boehringer promote Aggrenox to physicians in exchange for specified fees and royalties on Aggrenox sales.

The FTC proposed a consent agreement to settle charges that Novartis AG's $16 billion acquisition of London-based Glaxosmithkline plc's portfolio of cancer drugs would likely be anticompetitive. As part of the settlement, Novartis, of Basel, Switzerland, agreed to divest all assets related to its BRAF and MEK inhibitor drugs currently in development to Array Biopharma Inc. and provide transitional services to Array to ensure that development of the drugs continues uninterrupted.