FDAnews Drug Daily Bulletin

The mounting safety concerns swirling around the pharmaceutical industry are beginning to have a profound effect on the American public's perception of drug companies, according to a recent online poll.

Drugmaker Lex Pharmaceutical has been issued a warning letter following an FDA inspection that revealed a slew of manufacturing violations at the company's Medley, Fla., plant.

The new chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee said he would support legislation allowing the importation of pharmaceuticals into the U.S., but noted that such a plan could conflict with the mission of the FDA.

Two new clinical studies provide further evidence that the use of anti-inflammatory Cox-2 inhibitor drugs could increase the risk of serious cardiovascular events in humans.

German biotech MorphoSys AG is expanding its existing license agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb.

AEterna Zentaris has announced the closing of the acquisition of all Multichem assets by its subsidiary Atrium Biotechnologies for the total amount of $23.8 million of which $22.2 million were paid in cash at the closing.

Sciona, a private, international biotechnology company, is moving its headquarters from the UK to Boulder, Colo. Jim Bruce, a Boulder businessman, has been named CEO.

Applied DNA Sciences has reported that its managing investment banker, New York-based Vertical Capital Partners along with participation from other funds and investors, has closed on $5,482,993 of funding for APDN.

Pall has acquired Euroflow (UK) of Stroud, England. The company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of pilot and production scale chromatography columns for the biotechnology industry.

Protein Design Labs has agreed to buy the hospital-focused pharmaceutical firm ESP Pharma for $300 million in cash and roughly $175 million in stock, thereby gaining marketed products, a 75-person sales force, entry into the cardiac field -- and approximately $14 million in ESP debt.

Millennium Pharmaceuticals will collaborate with a Belgium pharmaceutical giant to develop potential inflammation treatments.

Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, a leading developer and user of genetic information to help guide medical therapy, expanded its ability to provide genetic tests for critical variants of key cardiac ion channel proteins involved in drug-induced cardiac arrhythmias.

Genetronics Biomedical, a late stage developer of oncology and other therapies using electroporation to deliver drugs and nucleic acids, has announced the acquisition of Oslo-based Inovio AS, a leader in patented gene delivery technology for the most efficient, nonviral method for gene transfer to skeletal muscles.