SYDNEY, Australia - A friendly A$500 million (US$345 million) merger that promised to create Australia's largest pure biotech company has been called off after hitting a major obstacle over one partner's dispute with a U.S. company. (BioWorld International)

In a deal potentially worth $384 million for Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., the company entered a global collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc. to develop and commercialize the former's lead aurora kinase inhibitor, VX-680. (BioWorld Today)