FDAnews Drug Daily Bulletin

Aiming to rein in public spending on pharmaceuticals, California lawmakers plan to consider a bill that would require drugmakers to pay the state a rebate for costs of marketing life-saving drugs used in state assistance programs -- a proposal that critics contend treads on commercial speech rights.

Indian drugmaker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has secured up to $56 million in venture capital to fund a major expansion into the U.S. generics market.

Indian drugmaker Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals scored a victory on the patent front when the Austrian Patent Office (APO) invalidated a patent on Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor.

HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt has started shaping his senior leadership team, announcing six key appointments to the agency, including the creation of a senior health policy position.

Johnson & Johnson announced that it has completed its acquisition of TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Lexington, Mass.-based company specializing in the discovery of superior formulations and novel crystalline forms of drug molecules.

Generic drugmaker Hi-Tech Pharmacal said it signed a licensing and supply agreement regarding a generic version of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.'s Orapred medication.

Lorus Therapeutics Inc. is teaming up with two major Japanese companies on a cancer drug project.

4SC AG, a drug discovery and development company specializing in research and development of therapeutic agents, announced that they have made a research cooperation agreement with SCHWARZ PHARMA AG, Monheim.

Biotech company Avigen said Tuesday that it will focus on developing more traditional pharmaceuticals as it discontinues funding for technology that uses viruses as a drug delivery vehicle.

CoTherix announced a collaborative research and development agreement with Quadrant Drug Delivery, Limited to develop an extended-release formulation of CoTherix's product, Ventavis (iloprost) Inhalation Solution.

Perlegen Sciences said it received a biodefense partnership grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to analyze the genomes the bacteria that causes plague.

Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the entry into an agreement with a specialty dermatological marketing company, and a boutique formulation development company, for the manufacture and distribution of a controlled release drug product.