Chiron Corp. received news early Tuesday that, when boiled down, meant it would not be a player in the 2004-2005 influenza market. That news not only dropped the company's stock by nearly 17 percent, it sent a shudder through a U.S. population already skittish about the flu. (BioWorld Today)

Almost exactly a year after AstraZeneca plc quit its deal with NicOx SA for COX-inhibiting nitric oxide-donating (CINOD) drugs, NicOx said it expects to net about €24 million (US$29.8 million) through a private placement that will be used mainly to advance a lead compound from that program. (BioWorld International)