If government red tape makes for slow and cumbersome drug development in deals with biotechnology firms, you wouldn't know it by GenVec Inc. (BioWorld Today)

Familiarity may breed contempt in some settings, but in the prescription world it often means a leg up on competing drugs. Such appears to be the case with Enbrel (etanercept), Amgen Inc.'s rheumatoid arthritis treatment approved in 1998.

Amgen Inc. reported positive results not only on its first-quarter balance sheet but also in the first of three Phase III trials with cinacalcet HCl, a drug for secondary hyperparathyroidism partnered with NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BioWorld Today)

Investors are likely to be all ears this week when Genentech Inc. hosts its annual meeting with stockholders. A recent earnings report and other news from the pioneering company - the industry's oldest, often cited by analysts as an example of what a biotechnology firm can be - seem certain to drum up even more interest than usual in the much-watched firm. (BioWorld Financial Watch)

Still sifting data from a Phase III study of its obesity drug Axokine, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. disclosed preliminary results from a Phase II trial in which the treatment yielded statistically significant weight loss in obese people with diabetes. (BioWorld Today)

Eight state biotechnology associations came together to create a conference aimed at the industry as it exists in the Midwest. And it does exist there, thank you, albeit with less cash and with an approach to drug discovery (and everything else) that's often somewhat different from either coast.

Gearing up for an approval of the psoriasis drug Raptiva by year's end, Genentech Inc. and XOMA Ltd. have retooled their agreement, with the former financing the latter's development costs $80 million at a time. (BioWorld Today)