A spate of news at the start of this year regarding therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) threw fresh light on the disorder - and might put eventual pressure on the Swiss firm Actelion Ltd., which markets the only approved oral therapy: Tracleer (bosentan), the dual endothelin receptor antagonist given market clearance by the FDA in 2001.

Adding weight to the old superstition that bad news comes in sets of three, Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. plc reported that another case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) has turned up in a patient given Tysabri. (BioWorld Today)

Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Thursday said adjustments in its voluntarily suspended Phase III study with Aquavan may extend only "modestly" the time to filing a new drug application, but Wall Street proved unforgiving, as investors took away more than 33 percent of the stock's value. (BioWorld Today)

Something of a rumble is shaping up in opioid-induced bowel dysfunction, as a pair of companies race to get a drug on the market for the condition. (BioWorld Financial Watch)