Biotech News

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. , Canada 's largest drugmaker, is close to acquiring Bausch & Lomb Holdings Inc., the eye-care company owned by Warburg Pincus LLC, for about $9 billion, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

San Diego officials have announced a plan to rid the scenic beaches of La Jolla of bird poop smell after declaring the excrement a health hazard.

ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. pleaded guilty on Friday in a federal case involving its eye drug Xibrom, admitting it promoted the drug for unapproved uses and agreeing to pay $33.5 million in fines and fees.

Staying up-to-date has never been simpler. Sign up for the free GenePool newsletter today! Stefan Oschmann came courting biotechnology start-ups last week, a trans-Atlantic visitor promising not only pharmaceutical industry expertise but also cash.

Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk said it could launch obesity treatment liraglutide in the United States by the end of next year and rejected some analysts' doubts over the medicine's commercial potential.

Forest Laboratories Inc said Howard Solomon, its chief executive of more than 35 years, will retire at the end of this year, capping a tenure that saw the company morph from a small generic and vitamins maker to a $10 billion corporation.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as the sensation of itch.

Johnson & Johnson is developing what could eventually be game-changing treatments for depression and pain, and it's aiming to apply for approval of more than 10 new medicines by 2017, executives said Thursday during a review of the health care giant's medicine business.

BIG PLANS: Johnson & Johnson says it's poised by 2017 to seek regulatory approval for a dozen new medicines and two dozen variations of existing ones.

Drowning was the most common cause of death associated with the Oct. 29 Superstorm Sandy, according to a new report out Thursday from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A federal panel of medical experts said that an experimental insomnia drug from Merck & Co.

Johnson & Johnson says it plans to submit more than 10 new treatments to regulators for approval and 25 applications for additional uses of approved drugs by 2017.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is showing a big drop in teen birth rates that some experts say is startling.

Kathrin Jansen is a microbiologist with at least two breakthrough vaccines to her name: she brought the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to market for Merck and helped develop the $4 billion a year pneumonia and meningitis vaccine Prevnar 13 for Pfizer.

Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. plans to try to sell its controlling stake in its former animal health business, Zoetis Inc., through a voluntary stock exchange with Pfizer shareholders.

Pesticide makers have taken to framing themselves as stewards of the bees as backlash over their products' links to mass bee deaths grows.

Once perceived as harmless, phthalates have come under increasing scrutiny. A growing collection of evidence suggests dietary exposure to phthalates may cause significant metabolic and hormonal abnormalities, especially during early development.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC says it's starting an unusual collaboration with the U.S. government to develop several antibiotics for both bioterrorism threats and bacterial infections resistant to current medicines.

A new wave of medicines that tap the power of the immune system to fight cancer could become the biggest drug class in history, with potential sales of $35 billion a year.

Faced with manufacturing quality questions that caused the FDA to reject its potential Parkinson's disease treatment, Impax Laboratories has hired a committee of specialists to oversee quality improvements at its California facility.