After an almost year-long respite, Pfizer Inc. is throwing money on the biotech table again, this time entering an agreement to buy privately held Rinat Neuroscience Corp. for an undisclosed sum. (BioWorld Today)

A year after filing the new drug application for Surfaxin, its treatment for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature infants, Discovery Laboratories Inc. has been sent a second approvable letter from the FDA, asking for more information. (BioWorld Today)

With an extended-release version of its heart drug for black patients in the works, NitroMed Inc. is cutting about 30 positions in research and development and stepping up efforts to out-license or partner its preclinical nitric-oxide enhancing program. (BioWorld Today)