Two years ago, the Financial Accounting Standards Board was said to be "moving quickly" on a proposal that would call for listing employee stock options as expenses like any other among the company's profits and losses, rather than in footnotes as a pro-forma expense. (BioWorld Financial Watch)

In a move that could markedly quicken the approval pace for its snail-based synthetic pain drug, Prialt, Elan Corp. plc added encouraging Phase III data to the new drug application and expects a review time of about six months. (BioWorld Today)

One of the sneakier and more challenging diseases is the liver condition brought about by the dreaded hepatitis C virus, which chronically afflicts about 2.7 million people in the U.S. - each at risk of fibrosis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure, or all of the above, and ultimately death.