Top 5 News Stories 10/20 – 10/26

1) CHC, MassBIO and PhRMA Support Mass. Emergency Amendments to Allow Modest Meals at Non-CME Events – Cohealthcom.org  – 10/22/2012

At a hearing held Friday in Boston by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, representatives from the Coalition for Healthcare Communication, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) testified that the state’s emergency amendments making an exception to a 2008 gift ban to allow “modest meals” to be offered to healthcare professionals is both supported by their organizations and in line with industry and federal standards. Link

2) Nobel Prize-Winner’s Stem Cells Help Glaxo Pinpoint Risks – Bloomberg Businessweek  – 10/22/2012

GlaxoSmithKline Plc is applying Shinya Yamanaka’s Nobel Prize-winning discovery in stem cells to identify heart risks linked to experimental drugs earlier in the development process. Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine this month for his work in turning ordinary skin cells into induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells with the potential to become any cell in the body. Link

3) Shire CEO to step down, company names replacement – Mass High Tech  – 10/25/2012

After more than a decade at the company, the last four years at the helm, Angus Russell will retire from his post as CEO of Shire, the Irish drug maker with $4 billion in 2011 revenues and a large presence in Massachusetts. Link

4) Pfizer will buy NextWave Pharma for up to $700M – Wall Street Journal  – 10/22/2012

Pfizer said Monday it will buy NextWave Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company that makes a liquid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug, in a deal worth as much as $700 million. The Food and Drug Administration approved NextWave’s drug Quillivant XR in September, and the once-per-day drug is expected to be in pharmacies in January. Link

5) Biogen shares rise on double-digit profit growth – Mass High Tech  – 10/25/2012

Biogen Idec saw its shares rise more than two percent after the company said its third quarter earnings per share rose by 17 percent and its revenue rose by 6 percent, due in part to higher sales of its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri. Link