Gilead Sciences Inc.'s bid to win marketing approvals for Viread against hepatitis B virus in the U.S. and Europe could mean upside for the compound - which sold $154.9 million in the third quarter as an HIV therapy - that's been overlooked so far by Wall Street, and investors are due for a full look at the data from a pair of supporting trials early next month. (BioWorld Today)

ThromboGenics NV's licensing deal with Rhein Minapharma Biogenetics for preclinical THR-174 could bring a next-generation thrombolytic for developing countries, a cheaper therapy for heart attacks that's equivalent to the gold standard tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). (BioWorld Today)

Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s layoff of about one-third of its work force could knock down the firm's burn rate by as much as half, as it retools the deal with Novartis AG for the approved hepatitis B drug Tyzeka and turns efforts toward early stage compounds for hepatitis C virus and HIV. (BioWorld Today)