Servier launches new Irish manufacturing plant; Japan to probe Canada's suspect lot of GSK vaccine;

> French drugmaker Servier has opened a new 47 million euro manufacturing and R&D facility in Ireland, creating 100 new jobs. Report

> Japan's health ministry is investigating one lot of GlaxoSmithKline's swine flu vaccine held up in Canada as the company look into reports of a higher-than-expected occurrence of anaphylaxis. Report

> The U.K.'s cost-effectiveness regulator said its appraisal committee recommended treatment with Abbott Laboratories' Humira and Schering-Plough/Johnson & Johnson's Remicade for NHS patients with Crohn's disease. Report

> Valeant Pharmaceuticals launched its generic version of Librax, a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. Report

> Pharmaceutical exports from Pakistan have fallen by 11.2 percent, or $14 million, year over year as drugmakers complain that the government hasn't done enough to promote locally manufactured meds. Report

> Immunovaccine said Pfizer is licensing its technology for use in vaccines for cattle. Report

Biotech News

> ARCA Biopharma said U.S. health regulators have granted a fast-track designation for its experimental drug, Gencaro, to treat chronic heart failure, sending its shares up as much as 81 percent. Report

> With the help of Novartis Venture Funds, the UK's Oxagen Limited has landed £16 Million ($26.7 Million) in Series C financing. Oxagen is focused on advancing its CRTH2 antagonist program in inflammatory and respiratory diseases. The company's lead therapy is OC000459 in moderate persistent asthma; the funding will help the company complete an ongoing Phase IIb trial of the drug. Report

> Norway's Clavis Pharma has reason to celebrate this morning. The developer has inked a $380 million deal with US-based Clovis Oncology, sending shares up as much as 60 percent, according to Reuters. Report

> India's Jubilant Organosys, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and Southern Research Institute will form a joint venture that will focus on developing affordable treatments for the oncology, metabolic disorders and infectious diseases therapeutic areas.  Report

> Novato, CA-based Raptor Pharmaceutical has reported positive results from a Phase II trial of delayed-release cysteamine bitartrate in patients with nephropathic cystinosis. Report

Manufacturing News

> A contaminated batch of raw material has led to the recall of 120,000 bottles Vicks Sinex nasal spray. Article

> If API manufacturing does find its way out of Asia, it may want to stop in the UK. Report

> Circumstantial evidence suggests that the U.S. practice of importing active drug ingredients from Asia may be running out of steam. Article

> Last week's multinational effort to crack down on drug counterfeiters--operation Pangea--shows that the public safety threat raises intellectual property theft to a new level. Report

And Finally... Lab tests suggest that morphine, commonly given to remedy cancer pain, might in fact encourage spread of the disease. Report