ALSO NOTED: Korea fines pharma firms for kickbacks; Medco boosts profits 16 percent;

> Ten Korean drug makers were fined $22 million for illegal rebates to hospitals and wholesalers. Report

> Pharmacy-benefits giant Medco Health Solutions posted a 16 percent hike in third-quarter profits and boosted its year-end earnings outlook again. Report

> Shire boasted a 41 percent increase in sales for the quarter, to $543 million, and raised its prediction for 2007 revenue growth to 30 percent from 25 percent. Release

> Shire also appointed MedImmune CEO David Mott as non-executive director; Mott also is executive vice president of AstraZeneca, which owns MedImmune. Report

> Drugs distributor Amerisource Bergen saw fourth-quarter profits fall 28 percent because of a big writedown on vaccine inventories. Report

> Smith & Nephew reported a 16 percent increase in adjusted earnings per share on a 24 percent increase in revenue to $845 million. Report

> A revolution in genomics and molecular biology has spurred a burst of new development activity in the vaccines business. Report

And Finally... Nematode worms treated with lithium live 46 percent longer. Would humans? Report