> Bristol-Myers Squibb completed its initial tender offer for shares of Medarex, a rival it agreed to buy for $2.1 billion. Report
> Johnson & Johnson won an appeals court ruling that it can try to use its patent on the Ultracet painkiller to block generic-drug makers including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from selling copies of the drug. Report
> India has decided to allow retail pharmacies to sell Tamiflu rather than limiting the drug to government distribution, in an effort to better manage H1N1 flu. Report
> Walgreen, the second-largest U.S. drug store chain, formed a partnership to sell prescription drugs to Caterpillar employees, supplementing a similar program with Wal-Mart Stores. Report
> Specialty pharmaceutical company Eurand got the FDA nod for its pancreatic enzyme product, Zenpep, to treat the inability to digest food due to a lack of enzymes made by the pancreas. Report
> Ipsen reported a 10.9 percent fall in first-half net profit but maintained its 2009 financial targets. Report
Biotech News
> A little more than a week ago, the FDA created a stir when it put a clinical hold back on Geron's pioneering embryonic stem cell trial. Today, Geron offered some added insight into the concerns about the spinal injury therapy and what company researchers have been able to ascertain so far. Report
> With the shares of quite a few biotech companies pointing back north these days and stock offerings coming back into vogue, Seattle-based Omeros is getting ready to try another leap into an IPO market that appears to be gradually thawing out. Report
> With speculation about a possible GlaxoSmithKline bid for Human Genome Sciences now running rampant--and HGS shares shooting to the moon on the back of those rumors--some of the analysts in the biotech field are starting to add a note of caution about the whole affair. Report
> Just weeks after Human Genome Sciences grabbed everyone's attention with the first-ever successful Phase III trial for lupus, Immunomedics and UCB have now unveiled promising mid-stage data for their lupus drug. Report
> Rumors about a likely Teva bid to acquire ViroPharma started driving up the biotech's share price yesterday, but the developer moved swiftly to squelch the buzz. Report
And Finally... While warfarin cuts the chances of suffering a stroke in most patients, for those receiving dialysis it can increase the risk by up to three times, a new study has found. Report