ALSO NOTED: Viracept snafu costing Roche millions; Abraxis gets FDA nod for generic Ellence;

> Roche has lost some $85 million in Viracept sales since it pulled the drug off the European market in June for contamination. The company awaits the E.U.'s approval to begin selling the drug again. Report

> Abraxis BioScience got the FDA's nod for the generic chemotherapy drug Epirubicin hydrochloride, currently made and sold by Pfizer as Ellence. Release

> Abbott Laboratories reported flat third-quarter profits as costs from its buyout of Guidant's stent business offset a 14 percent increase in revenue. Report

> Millennium Pharmaceuticals got the FDA's OK to expand marketing of its blood-cancer drug Velcade to patients with impaired kidney function. Report

> A team of scientists primarily led by researchers at Stanford University say they have developed a blood test that is 90 percent accurate in identifying Alzheimer's. Report

> Acclaimed Australian stem cell scientist Alan Trounson, who was recently appointed to head up California's $3 billion stem cell institute, has been questioned in an investigation related to "anomalies" in interim results presented for an aborted $1 million lung regeneration research project. Report

And Finally... A dangerously resistant form of staph is killing more people in the U.S. each year than the AIDS virus, according to a CDC report. The agency counted more than 94,000 serious infections last year. Report