Ardea Biosciences Inc. is shoring up its cash position on the heels of promising Phase IIb results for gout compound RDEA594, even as the buzz around the drug increases ahead of much-anticipated data from a combination study expected later this quarter. (BioWorld Today)

AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. is picking up $60 million up front in a potential $280 million deal with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for iron replacement therapy Feraheme (ferumoxytol), some much-needed good news for the small biotech still dealing with fallout from the drug's safety data reported earlier this year. (BioWorld Today)

Though much-anticipated Phase III mipomersen data aren't expected until later this year, Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. gave investors a nice surprise with news of a potential $1.5 billion RNA drug discovery alliance with GlaxoSmithKline plc. (BioWorld Today)

Genzyme Corp. is facing a probable consent decree as the FDA steps in to enforce compliance efforts at its problem-plagued Allston Landing manufacturing facility, yet another black mark for the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm since the plant was shut down temporarily last year to resolve viral contamination affecting products in its lucrative enzyme replacement franchise. (BioWorld Today)

Hoping to follow the one Australian and three U.S. biotechs that have managed to go public this year, French immunotherapy firm Neovacs SA is seeking to raise about €20 million (US$27 million) and boost its profile with a listing on the Alternext Exchange in Paris. (BioWorld Today) Assistant Managing Editor 

Shares of Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. more than doubled after the FDA approved its insomnia drug Silenor (doxepin), marking a major achievement for the San Diego-based firm, which entered 2010 with just over $5 million in the bank and a sole pipeline candidate that regulators had twice rejected. (BioWorld Today)