> Two commercials for the Boehringer Ingelheim prostate drug Flomax topped the ranking of the most recalled drug and vaccine ads during the 2008-09 TV season, according to a Nielsen analysis. Report
> Amgen has been dealt a blow by the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which is leaning toward barring National Health Service patients with a rare blood disorder from access to the company's Nplate drug. Report
> King Pharmaceuticals saw third-quarter profit drop to $42 million from $82 million in the year-ago period, despite a 19.3 percent increase in revenues to $463 million. Report
> Democrats in Congress are embracing the spirit of President Obama's call to slow the runaway rise of health-care costs but are shying away from some of the most aggressive techniques for achieving that. Report
> Cases of the H1N1 pandemic influenza virus showing resistance to antiviral drugs are "isolated and infrequent", the World Health Organization said. Report
> Two public health officials told Congress they don't expect to have enough pandemic-flu vaccine to meet the needs of high-priority population groups until well into December, and possibly not until January. Report
Biotech
> New Merck in the hunt for biotech buyouts, new pacts. Report
> GenVec is on a roll. A day after winning an orphan drug designation for its pancreatic cancer therapy TNFerade, the developer inked a $22 million development deal with Science Applications International to develop new HIV and flu vaccines. Report
> Genmab is axing 300 jobs as it shifts development work to vendors. Report
> The FDA has approved a new osteoarthritis therapy developed by Covidien and Nuvo Research. Report
> Sweden's Biovitrum has snapped up Swedish Orphan in a $493 million deal. Report
> MedImmune veterans have joined forces to launch a start-up with new technology out of the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, CA. Report
Vaccine News
> Big Pharma is mapping out a global vaccine strategy. Article
> Millions of women who carry the human papillomavirus suffer from lesions in precancerous tissue. But a small study indicates that an HPV vaccine may either improve their condition or cure it altogether, preventing malignancies in the vulva. Article
And Finally... The freezing of trade relations between Caracas and Bogotá has led Venezuelan pharmaceutical companies to consider new international markets to replace drug imports from Colombia. Report