While shares of Novo Nordisk rose 3.3 percent Tuesday on the news that the FDA had approved its once-daily injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist Victoza (liraglutide) for Type II diabetes, it was competitors Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alkermes Inc. whose stock benefitted the most, surging 9 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively. (BioWorld Today)

GlaxoSmithKline plc and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. under a so-called "patent pool" are providing researchers free access to intellectual property, discovered compounds, technologies and know-how in the pursuit to find new medicines for infectious and parasitic diseases affecting the world's poorest nations - the neglected diseases. (BioWorld Today)

As big pharma continues its trend of targeting biotech-discovered technology to fill the mega-drugmakers' depleting pipelines - with preclinical work becoming even more frequently eyed within that scope - Swiss manufacturer Novartis AG is the latest to take aim, inking a deal with GenVec Inc. potentially worth more than $213.6 million. (BioWorld Today)

WASHINGTON - While the U.S. continues to lead in most areas of science and technology, the nation has experienced a gradual erosion of its position, primarily because of the rapidly increasing capabilities among East Asian nations, such as China, and the fruition of the European Union's efforts to boost its relative competitiveness in R&D, innovation and high-tech, the National Science Foundation said in a new report. (BioWorld Today)