Last week's FDA panel nod for Cardiome Pharma Corp.'s intravenous atrial fibrillation/flutter drug vernakalant - lately branded Kynapid - came with the expected provisos, and put the company in strong position as the race to market continues for I.V. and oral versions of AF drugs. (BioWorld Financial Watch)

Precision Therapeutics Inc.'s move to go public by way of a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition firm gives a boost to marketing of its ChemoFx test, which uses a patient's live tumor cells to measure the likelihood of response to cancer drugs. (BioWorld Today)

Neurobiological Technologies Inc.'s two kernels of news to pop last week - positive interim data from a partner with Xerecept for brain edema, plus a deal with the Buck Institute For Age Research to develop fibroblast growth factor-2 against Huntington's disease - failed to butter up investors, as the value of the firm stayed "inexplicably low," in the words of analyst Russell McAllister of Merriman Curhan Ford. (BioWorld Financial Watch)

Celgene Corp.'s move last month to acquire Pharmion Corp., paying $2.9 billion in a cash and stock deal that boosted the firm's presence in the worldwide hematology and cancer markets, made perfect sense - but not to everybody. (BioWorld Financial Watch)