> India's Indoco Remedies signed a deal with Watson Pharmaceuticals to develop generic products for the U.S. market. Report
> Boston Scientific will pay $1.73 billion to Johnson & Johnson's Cordis unit to end patent-infringement claims related to stents. Report
> Ireland is cutting the prices of up to 300 commonly prescribed drugs by 40 percent in a bid to save the government €94 million ($130 million) a year. Report
> An Indianapolis drug manufacturing facility is changing hands as part of a sale by Enzon Pharmaceuticals to specialty pharma business the sigma-tau Group of Maryland. Report
> Gilead Sciences said it has authorized the repurchase of up to $1 billion of its shares through January 2011. Report
> Exane BNP-Paribas shuffled ratings on European pharma companies, upgrading Sanofi-Aventis and Shire to outperform, and lowering Bayer to neutral. Report
> Daiichi Sankyo applied for approval to sell its novel long- acting flu drug in its home country of Japan, giving patients an additional option for treatment. Report
> The FDA is calling on pharmaceutical firms to give more attention to the potential for abuse of new drugs when subjecting them to pre-market testing. Report
Biotech News
> Morgan Stanley's experts are suggesting a new drug development model for Big Pharma that will surely tickle most biotech execs pink. Report
> The U.K.'s Oxford Nanopore has raised $28 million in new venture funds to fuel its quest to create a far cheaper template for full human genome sequencing. Story
> There's a tremendous amount of buzz this morning about the likelihood that GlaxoSmithKline will announce later in the week that it will cut thousands of more jobs--concentrating much of the blow on its R&D centers--as it shifts its market stance from Europe and the U.S. toward emerging markets. Report
> While most private biotech CEOs are careful to hedge their bets and try to make their company attractive for either an IPO or a takeover, Peter Hecht, the CEO at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, has always stayed focus on making the transition into commercialization work that would allow the company to swell into a big, multibillion-dollar player. Story
> La Jolla, CA-based Cordex Pharma has invited in WBB Securities to help it take a look at its strategic alternatives. Story
Biotech IT News
> A maker of security software for the management of confidential documents earned membership into an exclusive life sciences club--the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. Report
> A large--but unnamed--drugmaker conducting a Phase II trial for a urology treatment will use electronic diaries to collect patient-reported outcome data. The 750-subject trial spans 22 countries on three continents and requires use of 34 languages, according to an announcement. Report
> GlaxoSmithKline has deployed the DocXP document- and data-capture system for eventual use in clinical trials. Story
> Performance measurement is tops among the areas that companies say they need to improve for product portfolio management purposes. It's especially the case at mid-sized companies but true across the board, according to a survey conducted recently by ClearTrial. Item
> Identification of capacity planning as the critical capability for drug developer survival by Tufts last week represents a bar set high. Story
> The European Medicines Agency says it plans to do something about the high attrition rate of drugs in development. And without saying so explicitly, it implies an increased role for automation both within its own organization and among its industry constituents. Story
And Finally... Scientists say they have solved a crucial puzzle about the AIDS virus after 20 years of research and that their findings could lead to better treatments for HIV. Report