FDA slaps down J&J on Ertaczo ad; Roche, Lilly drugs run short in U.K.;

> Johnson & Johnson used a misleading medical journal advertisement to promote its Ertaczo athlete's foot cream, FDA says. Report [1]

> Amid shortages of many drugs in the U.K., the two drugs most difficult to obtain are Roche's weight loss drug Xenical and Eli Lilly's antipsychotic med Zyprexa, pharmacists said in a poll. Report [2]

> ViroPharma said it was not aiming to be acquired, responding to a market rumor that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries was looking to buy the company. Report [3]

> Stolen vials of Novo Nordisk insulin for diabetics may still be on the market and may be harmful, FDA warned. Report [4]

> Cardinal Health announced a cash tender offer to purchase up to $1.2 billion of its long-term debt securities as part of a plan to reduce its long-term debt. Release [5]

> Mylan launched its version of Sanofi-Aventis' skin drug BenzaClin, the first generic to hit the market. Report [6]

> Aurobindo Pharma won the FDA nod for its version of Pharmacia & Upjohn's Cleocin antibiotic. Report [7]

Biotech News

> Shares of Nymox spiked dramatically this morning, soaring 59 percent on the news that its experimental therapy for a common type of liver cancer proved highly effective in animal studies. Report [8]

> Endo Pharmaceuticals has handed out a $10 million upfront payment for the U.S. licensing rights to ProStrakan's testosterone replacement therapy Fortesta. News [9]

> Shares of Human Genome Sciences hit $19.20--a seven-year high--after reports surfaced yesterday [10] that the market has been buzzing about an upcoming buyout offer from GlaxoSmithKline. The Telegraph lit the market fire with an item about Glaxo's rumored $30-a-share bid for HGS. Report [11]

> Researchers for Japan's Dainippon Sumitomo say that a second late-stage trial offered convincing data that their experimental drug lurasidone controls symptoms for schizophrenia without some of the serious side affects that afflict some patients taking competing drugs. Report [12]

Vaccine News

> The same HPV vaccines used to guard against cervical cancer in girls and young women could also protect men from a rare penile cancer. Report [13]

> Backed with funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a group of researchers say they're ready to launch human trials of a new inhalable measles vaccine that can be used to guard against the disease in poor countries. Report [14]

> Faced with alarming projections that swine flu can kill up to 90,000 Americans, U.S. government officials have given vaccine makers a green light to start preparing shipments of a new jab--their fill-and-finish stage--before they even have clinical trial data in hand. News [15]

And Finally ... Though typhoid fever is a rare disease in the United States, the proportion of cases caused by drug-resistant Salmonella typhi is increasing. Report [16]