"GERD" might sound like the nickname of the nice German lady down the block who bakes Pfeffernusse cookies at Christmas, but physicians, biotech firms and a large number of unhappy patients know GERD as the acronym for gastroesophageal reflux disease, or acid reflux, an estimated $14 billion market. (BioWorld Financial Watch)

With its lead candidate AP23573 poised to begin Phase III trials in metastatic sarcoma, Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. signed a global development and commercialization partnership for the small-molecule mTOR inhibitor with Merck and Co. Inc. (BioWorld Today)