Privately held pain drug firm EpiCept Corp. entered a deal to pay about $136 million in stock to take over Maxim Pharmaceuticals Inc., and the agreement is expected to close in the fourth quarter. (BioWorld Today)

The anti-staph field got potentially more complicated last week when a would-be challenge to research leader Inhibitex Inc. appeared on the horizon.

The clock is ticking on key decisions related to a pair of drugs for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) - MGI Pharma Inc.'s Dacogen and Celgene Corp.'s Revlimid - and the market seems ready to widen, even as physicians continue to look fondly upon Pharmion Corp.'s injectable Vidaza (azacitidine), the compound in-licensed from Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., now part of Pfizer Inc.