Public Citizen petitions FDA on Savella; GSK, Daiichi among new donors to Haiti;

> The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen is petitioning the FDA to pull the fibromyalgia drug Savella from the market, alleging that its risks outweigh its benefits. Report [1]

> The Haitian disaster has seen an outpouring of support among the pharma industry. The latest companies to step up with medicines and money include GlaxoSmithKline ($1.8 million so far), Bayer ($267,000), and Daiichi Sankyo (more than $1.7 million). Report [2]

> Biogen Idec officials said Wednesday three more patients have contracted a rare brain infection associated with the company's multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri. Report [3]

> Warner Chilcott is seeking to cut interest rates on loans used to buy Procter & Gamble's prescription-drug unit for $3.1 billion in October. Report [4]

> "Extraordinary Measures," a new movie starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, opens Friday in Boston, and 101 employees from Genzyme will gather at a downtown theater to see themselves portrayed in what some fear may be an unflattering light. Report [5]

> The World Health Organization will clarify data on swine flu after media reports of a false pandemic hindered public health measures, India's Health Secretary K. Sujatha Rao said. Report [6]

Biotech News

> Merck says that its HIV drug vicriviroc failed two late-stage trials, scuttling any immediate plans to file for an approval at the FDA. Story [7]

> The high-profile biotech entrepreneur Cam Garner has crafted a tranched, $30 million Series A round for San Diego-based Elevation Pharmaceuticals. Report [8]

> A trio of new studies has underscored both the distinct therapeutic advantages as well as the blockbuster market potential of two new oral drugs for multiple sclerosis. Story [9]

> France's Ipsen SA has mapped out a deal to acquire a chunk of Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals for $85 million and pay up to $174 million in milestones as they collaborate on the development of a blockbuster portfolio of new hemophilia drugs. Report [10]

> Shares of Durham, NC-based Inspire Pharmaceuticals (ISPH) quickly slid 8 percent after investors got wind of a late-stage failure for Prolacria, which was in Phase III for the treatment of dry eye disease. Story [11]

Vaccines News

> Glaxo's Andrew Witty says he'll price the company's new malaria vaccine just over cost. And any profits, he pledges, will be plowed back into research. Report [12]

> Few countries responded more aggressively to the swine flu pandemic than the U.K. Quick to reassure its citizens, the country was among the first to lay its hands on a substantial supply of new flu vaccine. And it called on healthcare workers to be first in line, a key measure in the fight to contain any virus. Story [13]

> The number of women under the age of 30 diagnosed with cervical cancer will fall nearly two thirds by 2025 because they have received the HPV vaccine, according to a study published this week in the British Journal of Cancer. Report [14]

> With people shrugging off the swine flu pandemic around the globe, analysts are beginning to tot up the impact slack demand will have on the Big Pharma companies that raced to supply the world with a novel vaccine. Story [15]

> Australian scientists have discovered two antigens that could play a key role in developing a powerful new malaria vaccine. And they made the discovery after studying 33 people who had suffered from malaria and then grown immune to it. Report [16]

And Finally... A national program to reduce dietary salt could prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks, strokes and deaths and trim as much as $24 billion from the U.S. health-care tab. Report [17]