ALSO NOTED: Diabetes-med use doubles in young girls; Ranbaxy settles patent fight with Astellas;

> Tween and teen girls drove a huge increase in type 2 diabetes prescriptions among kids. Report

> India's Ranbaxy Laboratories has resolved a patent fight over the prostate drug Tamsulosin, a generic version of Astellas Pharma's Flomox, allowing it to launch the product in March 2010. Report

> Barr Pharmaceuticals fell short of analysts' estimates on third-quarter earnings and may do so again in the fourth quarter, the company announced today. Report

> King Pharmaceutical beat third-quarter earnings estimates with profits of $128 million on revenues of $544.9 million. Report

> Drug distributor Amerisource Bergen boosted its stock buyback program by $500 million. Report

> Cytos Biotechnology has won a round of kudos for its experimental vaccine to control hypertension. The therapy controls blood pressure with an occasional jab, as opposed to a regimen of daily pills. Report

> By all accounts, New Jersey's referendum to back embryonic stem cell research with $450 million in borrowed funds was supposed to be something of a cakewalk. Instead, proponents like Governor Jon Corzine were body slammed with a resounding 53 percent of the electorate coming out against the ESC proposal. Report

> Sanofi-Aventis has launched a mid-stage study of a new seasonal flu vaccine that hopes to advance a completely new method to make vaccines. Report

And Finally... Forget Avandia and go hungry instead. Fasting slows diabetes and prevents heart disease, a new study shows. Report