As some investors fidget over the outcome of an erythropoietin lawsuit against F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Amgen Inc. posted estimate-beating third-quarter numbers, with earnings of $1.1 billion, or 94 cents per share, compared to $967 million, or 77 cents per share, during the same period last year. (BioWorld Today)

Privately held Stiefel Laboratories Inc.'s acquisition of Connetics Corp. for $640 million represents a happy ending - or beginning - for the firm previously known as Connective Therapeutics Inc. (BioWorld Today)

Faced with a need for non-dilutive cash, Santarus Inc. found relief in Schering-Plough Corp.'s agreement to pay as much as $80 million for rights to an over-the-counter, lower-dose version of Zegerid (omeprazole) for heartburn-related indications. (BioWorld Today)

Bayer Healthcare is paying Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. up to $320 million - including $75 million up front - in a deal centered on VEFG Trap for diseases of the eye, and expects to start a Phase III trial in the first half of next year comparing the drug to Lucentis against age-related macular degeneration. (BioWorld Today)

Available cash will take the firm "well into 2009," said Nicholas Nicolaides, president, CEO and co-founder of Exton, Pa.-based Morphotek. By then, full Phase II data should be available for the two most advanced antibodies, with the lead compound in a Phase III pivotal trial, he said. (BioWorld Today)