Industry has made significant inroads over the years against multiple myeloma - Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Velcade, approved in May 2003, comes to mind - but academia also has chalked up important gains against the rare, deadly blood cancer. (BioWorld Today)

Medarex Inc. and the FDA have agreed on a special protocol assessment for the pivotal Phase III trial with the fully human antibody MDX-010 plus MDX-1379, a gp100 melanoma peptide vaccine, against patients with unresectable metastatic disease who can't tolerate first-line therapy. (BioWorld Today)

Brightening the picture for Illumina Inc. were two pieces of news: the sale of its San Diego facilities for $42 million (with a 10-year lease-back agreement) and the settlement of a court battle with Applera Corp. (BioWorld Today)