Industry has made significant inroads over the years against multiple myeloma - Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Velcade, approved in May 2003, comes to mind - but academia also has chalked up important gains against the rare, deadly blood cancer. (BioWorld Today)

Pharming Group NV purchased the remaining intellectual property assets of PPL Therapeutics plc from London-based Innovation Development Ltd., for what Chief Science and Technology Officer Frank Pieper called "a relatively small sum." (BioWorld International)

After achieving statistically significant efficacy endpoints in a second Phase III study, Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it anticipates seeking regulatory approval later this year for Neurodex in the treatment of pseudobulbar affect, a syndrome that occurs with a number of neurodegenerative diseases. (BioWorld Today)