Court stops Teva's launch of Evista copycat; Forest wins patent extension on Namenda;

> Eli Lilly said a U.S. district court granted its request to temporarily stop generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from launching a version of the osteoporosis drug Evista. Report [1]

> The U.S. patent office granted a five-year extension for the Merz Pharma patent covering Forest Laboratories' Alzheimer's remedy Namenda, giving Forest ammo for its patent fight against several generics makers seeking to copy the drug. Release [2]

> As merger mania plays out among the pharmaceutical giants, a different sort of financial frenzy has seized some small, struggling drug makers. Investors are demanding that stragglers close up shop and hand over any remaining cash. Report [3]

> Watson Pharmaceuticals has settled a patent fight with Elan over Watson's generic version of Naprelan (naproxen sodium) tablets. Report [4]

> Scientists have discovered that an old antimalaria drug is effective against two fatal viruses that recently jumped from animals to humans. Report [5]

> Roche and Evotec have signed a potential $300 million deal to develop EVT 101, a drug being tested for treatment-resistant depression. EVT-101 was discovered by Roche and developed by Evotec from discovery to the clinic. Roche report [6]

> Inhalable indulin company MannKind has agreed to purchase Pfizer's Frankfurt-based insulin facility for $33 million. Report [7]

> Human Genome Sciences' experimental hepatitis C drug Albuferon met its primary endpoint of non-inferiority to Pegasys in a Phase III trial. HGS release [8]

> Victory Pharma and Surface Logix have raised $45 million and $20 million respectively. Report [9]

> Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceuticals saw its shares plunge amid concerns that the company's diabetes drug candidate, alogliptin, faces regulatory delays. Takeda report [10]

> A startup company looking to sell reagents and tools to stem cell researchers hauled in $14 million in Series A cash on the same day the field got a big boost from Uncle Sam. Report [11]

> By many measures, the $3 billion California stem cell agency is a remarkable success. Today the agency is a benchmark for stem cell research and is creating alliances as if it were a nation state, drawing in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Spain. But it now confronts a looming cash crisis as the result of the $42 billion budget shortfall in the Golden State. Article [12]

And Finally... Women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), a birth control shot sold by Pfizer under the name Depo-Provera, gained an average of 11 pounds and increased their body fat by 3.4 percent over three years. Release [13]