NICE recommends GSK lung cancer med; Pfizer chief tapped for NY Fed's board;

> The U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommended the use of GlaxoSmithKline's Hymactin for patients whose lung cancer has returned. Report

> Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler was elected to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's board as a Class B director. Report

> A European survey found that Denmark and the Netherlands provided the best drug-related health benefits of any country in the region. Report

> Merck KGaA CEO Karl-Ludwig Kley said he plans to make acquisitions in all of its business areas in an interview with WirtschaftsWoche magazine. Report

> Impax Laboratories, coming off a 3-1/2-year-old patent settlement deal with Shire Pharmaceuticals, launched a generic version of Shire's ADHD drug Adderall XR. Report

Biotech News

> It isn't just Big Pharma venturing into emerging markets. Opko Health (OPK) has agreed to acquire Chilean pharmaceutical company Pharma Genexx for $16 million in cash, the Miami, FL-based developer announced today. Report

> Every year FierceBiotech looks at the top regions for biotech--those areas of the country and world that are doing the most to attract biotech jobs. State officials and politicians constantly compete with each other to attract these high-paying, high quality jobs. But Luke Timmerman of Xconomy asks an intriguing question: do biotech workers really get paid as much as we think? Report

> Canada's QLT has sold its subsidiary QLT USA to Tolmar Holdings, a Colorado-based private pharma company, for $230 million. QLT USA's lead asset is Eligard, a line of products for prostate cancer. A subsidiary of Tolmar manufactures the drug. Report

> In the first Phase III study of Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca's diabetes drug, dapagliflozin met both primary and secondary endpoints. Report

> At a talk sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, former MedImmune CEO turned venture capitalist David Mott said earlier this week that the venture capital crisis has likely bottomed out, and that the industry can look forward to an easier VC environment in the coming months. Report

And Finally... Students taking important exams could one day find themselves in the same position as professional athletes--submitting to a drug test before the big event. Report