> Teva Pharmaceutical Industries plans to close a Florida plant and lay off 300 employees there by the end of 2010. Report
> Elan said Tuesday its losses narrowed sharply in 2008 as sales surged, driven by its top drug, the multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri. Report
> Bayer is changing the way it advertises its Yaz contraceptive--and launching a $20 million ad campaign to correct alleged misinformation--under terms of a legal accord with Ohio and 26 other states. Report
> Indevus announced Phase III results from an NIH-funded trial of PRO 2000, the company's vaginal microbicide for HIV prevention. Report
> Following manufacturing problems that caused KV to suspend operations, the company is laying off 700 employees as it tries to get back on its feet. The company previously employed almost 1,600 workers. Report
> The FDA has determined that dozens of weight-loss supplements, most of them imported from China, contain hidden and potentially harmful drugs. Report
> The biotech industry is not only expected to rebound this year, but according to investors, the sector will outperform healthcare and the rest of the market. So says a perception study of over 80 investors conducted during December and January by Thomson Reuters and BIO's Investor Relations team. Report
> Cubist plans to sue Teva for patent infringment as the Israeli generics maker seeks FDA approval for an injectable form of its Cubicin antibiotic. Release
> Looking to boost it's presence in emerging markets, PPD announced it will acquire AbCRO, a Central and Eastern Europe contract research organization. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Report
> Schering-Plough says it will invest $60 million to support early drug discovery technologies for research and development operations in Scotland, the U.S. and the Netherlands. Report
> The FDA has approved GTC Biotherapeutics' ATryn. This marks the first time the agency has given the okay to a transgenic therapy--a drug developed in genetically engineered animals--and the first recombinant antithrombin approved in the U.S. Report
> Researchers at Edinburgh University have grown neurons, the basic cells of the nervous system, on silicon chips. And the process could eventually serve as a radical new approach to repairing damaged nerve and muscle fiber. Report
> Illumina CEO Jay Flatley says that in five years we'll have the kind of affordable technology needed to map every child's DNA at birth. And in 10 years, Flatley predicted in an interview with The Times, the service will become a routine offering. Report
> The Senate is expected to push through a revised stimulus bill that includes $17.8 billion for biomedical research and development, according to a report in New Scientist. The research community is likely to prefer it over the House version of stimulus economics, where lawmakers penciled in $13.2 billion for R&D. Report
And Finally... Sen. Charles Grassley says only John Q. Public--not the pharma industry--should have a seat at the FDA's table. Report