> AstraZeneca stock rose on partial U.S. approval for broader use of its schizophrenia drug Seroquel XR. Report
> A new analysis in The Lancet suggests that GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix protects against cervical cancer for more than six years without need for a booster. Report
> Sanofi-Aventis and FDA jointly warned against "careless and casual use" of the company's antidepressant Norpramin, saying that the drug should be given with extreme caution to patients who have a family history of heart problems. Report
> Torrent Pharmaceuticals denied that it was in talks with Japan's Takeda Pharmaceuticals to sell off a stake of the company. Report
> Generic drug maker Impax Labs has bought the rights to two generic drugs from Watson Pharmaceuticals and Arrow Group, which Watson recently acquired. Report
> India has requested Sri Lanka to lift the ban imposed on products of some Indian pharmaceutical companies after some of the medicine vials supplied by them were found contaminated with glass and plastic particles. Report
> Shares in drugmaker Movetis, Belgium's largest initial public offer since October 2007, gained over 7 percent on their Friday debut on Euronext Brussels. Report
Biotech News
> Founded in 2004, biotech start-up NormOxys is talking for the first time today about programs, plans and a new CEO. The company has appointed Martin Tolmar as its chief. The former Yale professor was an executive at CoMentis and also worked in Pfizer's clinical development, strategic partnerships and business development divisions. Report
> Health experts on Thursday called for more research funding to develop better diagnostic tests, vaccines and drugs for tuberculosis, which killed 1.8 million people worldwide last year. With the exception of Pfizer's rifabutin, a drug used to treat TB for those with drug-resistant HIV/AIDS, there have been no newly licensed drugs for TB in 40 years. Report
> Westlake, TX-based MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals announced that it has received a notice from Nasdaq that the company's listed securities did not maintain a minimum bid price of $1 per share for 30 consecutive days. The company has until June 1, 2010 to regain listing compliance. Report
> Alkermes is paying its Cambridge, MA-based neighbor Acceleron Pharma $2 million up front and another $8 million for an equity stake in the company. Alkermes is licensing Acceleron's Medifusion technology, which boosts the circulating half-life of proteins and peptides. Report
> Biogen Idec has made its "best-and-final offer" for Facet Biotech. The big biotech has upped its bid to $17.50 per share (around $430 million), up from the $14.50 per share--or $356 million--Biogen extended in September. Report
> ZymoGenetics is cutting all of its immunology work along with 15 percent of its jobs, or 52 positions. That's in addition to the 161 jobs the developer cut in April when it decided to bow out of the cancer research business. Report
And Finally... There was no substantial change in brain tumor incidence among adults 5 to 10 years after cellphone usage sharply increased, according to a new brief communication in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Report