ZymoGenetics Inc.'s stock leaped 26 percent Tuesday on the news that it signed a deal potentially worth more than $1.1 billion with pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. to develop and commercialize the Seattle-based biotech's early-stage hepatitis C drug. (BioWorld Today)

Massachusetts firms Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. have formed a 50-50 North American partnership to develop and commercialize Alnylam's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-specific RNAi therapeutics. (BioWorld Today)

Shares of Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. soared 73.6 percent Tuesday after the Lexington, Mass.-based company said it was being acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. for $4.50 per share, or about $370 million in cash. (BioWorld Today)

FDA drug reviewers said in briefing documents Monday that they were not confident that the risks of vision loss associated with Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s investigational antiepileptic drug Sabril (vigabatrin) could be mitigated sufficiently by a safety plan proposed by the Deerfield, Ill.-based firm. (BioWorld Today)

The year 2008 in biotechnology will be remembered as one of survival, including restructurings and layoffs at more than 80 companies, executive pay-cuts and resignations, discontinued programs, and lots of asset monetization and creative financing. (BioWorld Financial Watch)