Data reported from two separate studies showed that gene therapy improved the vision of some patients with a rare inherited degenerative eye disease that leads to blindness by age 30. (BioWorld Today)

Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc. is partnering with CoMentis Inc. to develop a compound for Alzheimer's disease under a deal potentially worth $760 million for the latter. (BioWorld Today)

Analysts are predicting that Genentech Inc.'s Avastin could face stiff competition as a treatment for lung cancer from ImClone Systems Inc.'s Erbitux (Cetuximab) based on new data. (BioWorld Today)

Shares of CV Therapeutics Inc. rose 17.6 percent Wednesday on news that the firm received $175 million in cash from New York-based investment firm TPG-Axon Capital in exchange for rights to 50 percent of royalties on North American sales of Lexiscan (regadenoson) injection. (BioWorld Today)