Biotech News

The former head of West Virginia University's executive MBA program seems to contradict a statement by the governor's daughter. via The Associated Press

“We're doing everything we can with existing resources now. ... With further resources we would be able to do more.”

A top government health official said Wednesday that climate change is expected to have a significant impact on health in the next few decades, with certain regions of the country - and the elderly and children ... via Free Republic

Pfizer Inc. said Wednesday it is warning patients using its inhaled insulin product Exubera about the risk of lung cancer, leading Nektar Therapeutics to terminate its inhaled insulin programs. via New York Business.com

“Filing in Europe won't be a slam dunk, and will probably be more difficult than in Russia”

The tiny biotechnology company Antigenics Inc said on Tuesday it has won approval to market its kidney cancer vaccine, Oncophage, in Russia, making it the only cancer vaccine available in the world. via Reuters UK

A painkiller containing THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, is used by 1,400 MS sufferers A cannabis-based painkiller has performed little better than a dummy drug in trials, raising doubts about its ... via Daily Mail

“Corn looms large in our growth plans”

Monsanto Company announced an exclusive partnership Tuesday with its rival Bayer CropScience to develop a new treatment for corn seeds. via The Topeka Capital-Journal

“The Supreme Court will not let this happen inside a public school.”

Talk about a civics lesson: A high-school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is ... via The Modesto Bee

“We are very pleased by the settlement of this case which will provide us a substantial new source of revenue”

Massachusetts biotech Repligen today said it has settled a patent infringement lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb over the rheumatoid arthritis treatment Orencia. via The Jersey Journal

Federal regulators have issued a warning to GlaxoSmithKline for not reporting safety results on its diabetes pill Avandia, which received a prominent warning label last year. via WSLS

“From birth through adolescence, a complex cascade of biological, psychological and social development interacts with dynamic environmental influences, leading to behavior that may either move individuals toward or away from underage drinking.”

Pediatricians alerted to the developmental nature of underage drinking in special journal supplement In a special supplement to Pediatrics, edited and sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and ... via Alcoholics Anonymous Reviews

Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG said it will spend about $38 billion in a two-step bid for a majority stake in U.S. eye-care company Alcon. via ClipSyndicate

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine Rotarix for use in infants. via Bizjournals

Overseas stock markets were positive and Wall Street indexes pointed to gains at the open, while the Canadian dollar gained on rising commodity prices. via CFRB

“This acquisition joins two leading operating companies in the pharmacy services industry, which will result in material improvements to the operational and financial performance metrics we provide for our client hospitals”

Comprehensive Pharmacy Services will purchase the pharmacy management service business of McKesson Medication Management from McKesson Corp. via Memphis Business Journal

“The mutations we have identified have clinically meaningful effects to individual patients and suggest that independently rare mutations will collectively account for a substantial fraction of the population's variability in disease susceptibility”

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have found that rare mutations in three genes contribute to blood pressure variation in the general population. via PhysOrg Weblog

“This combination allows us to accelerate our strategy to increase Kinetic's presence in the operating room and will leverage our broad global market reach to drive future growth of LifeCell's products”

Medical technology company Kinetic Concepts Inc. said Monday it will buy LifeCell Corp. via BusinessWeek

Novartis AG has agreed to buy Nestle AG's 77 percent stake in U.S. company Alcon for $39 billion to boost its eye care business, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday. via WTNZ-TV Knoxville

“Along with cardiac abnormalities, heat stroke is a major culprit in unexpected sudden deaths of otherwise fit, young athletes and soldiers”

The key to curing heat stroke may have been found in a genetic disorder that causes people under general anesthesia to suffer a deadly rise in body temperature, according to a new report. via WOIO

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company, announced today that the first New Zealand patient was treated with Cook Medical Inc.'s Zilver PTX drug-eluting ... via Med Ad News

“I know there was a lot of legitimate anticipation that John would enter the race,'' Spadea continued. "We've been upfront all along about the level of major obligations he had. Ultimately, the decision had to be said to be on the side of his family.”

Despite the encouragement of thousands of New Jerseyans and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a Princeton father who founded his own biotech company to save two of his children from a rare disease ... via Jersey Journal