> Roche missed forecasts with a 29 percent drop in first-half net profit, hit by costs related to its $47 billion acquisition of Genentech, but the company raised its full-year earnings guidance. Report
> Pfizer CFO Frank D'Amelio confirmed that it is negotiating with "multiple parties" interested in buying the animal health assets it must divest to win regulatory approval for the Wyeth deal. Report
> Human Genome Sciences said the U.S. government placed an additional order for its inhaled anthrax treatment ABthrax for $151 million. Report
> Plans are underway to intensify and strengthen the chains of pharmaceutical distribution across Nigeria, officials said. Report
> South African labor union Ceppwawu briefed striking pharmaceutical workers on the latest wage offer made by their employers. Report
> Bangladeshi authorities launched an investigation into Rid Pharmaceuticals after the deaths of at least 23 children who had been given a syrup containing painkillers. Report
> In yet another example of a raid on the medicines supply chain, thieves in the U.S. made off with a trailer full of a product shipment from Sanofi-Aventis earlier this month. Report
Biotech News
> Sucampo Pharma Americas reaped mixed late-stage results from two trials of its experimental opioid-induced bowel dysfunction drug. One study hit its primary endpoint but the other missed. Report
> PPD's clinical research work ginned a bigger profit in the last quarter than the market had estimated, but its shares nevertheless slid 16 percent as the analysts zeroed in on high cancellations and weak bookings for the months ahead. Report
> GlaxoSmithKline's experimental AIDS drug produced dramatic results in a small human study. Researchers say that S/GSK1349572 reduced the virus level 500-fold, according to Bloomberg, and none of the 35 patients involved demonstrated any resistance to the drug. Report
> The New York Times' Andrew Pollack has sized up the heated debate over new legislation that will stake out the boundaries for biologic market exclusivity, concluding that the development industry appears to be the odds-on favorite to win a 12-year period free of biosimilar competition. Report
> Looking at Human Genome Sciences's upward movement this week, Reuters points out that the wild roller coaster ride that public biotech companies often put investors on can attract a big crowd when the numbers go up like that. When the data comes up positive, fortunes can be made overnight, especially if the outlook had been bleak. Report
Vaccine News
> The majority of people in the United States don't get the vaccinations they need and in many cases haven't got a clue what they're missing out on, according to a pair of new surveys that highlight the shortcomings of the country's healthcare system. Report
> GlaxoSmithKline says that it expects to reap up to $2.1 billion next year from the sale of a new H1N1 vaccine. And it's already tripling its capacity to supply the antiviral Relenza as it dickers with about 50 countries over their plans to buy stockpiles of meds to fight the flu. Report
> A new study demonstrated that GlaxoSmithKline's Typherix vaccine was effective at preventing typhoid in children as young as two and that widespread vaccination campaigns targeting threatened neighborhoods can help protect an entire community. Report
> The first human trial of an H1N1 vaccine began Wednesday. Melbourne, Australia-based developer CSL has launched a human trial of its experimental H1N1 vaccine in partnership with the clinical research organization CMAX and the Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia. Report
And Finally... A study found that those who ate fish nearly every day were almost 20 percent less likely to develop dementia than those who ate fish just a few days a week. Report