This Week’s Biotech Highlights

I spent most of this week playing catch-up, having taken vacation the week before, and there was some great stuff to catch up on:

• Canadian developments included a new structure for Ontario’s commercialization network, new advice from BDC and new management at MSBiV (a Montreal-based commercialization entity).
• Deal news included the Neuromed-CombinatoRx merger, as well as product acquisitions and expansions for Paladin Labs and Biovail. Plus, Sumagen’s HIV vaccine candidate got picked up by the CBC; but PhRMA got dropped by Roche (which says it’s better aligned with BIO).
• Finally, the week saw some suggestions for what companies in the venture captial space should do, like diversifying some risk and improving their boards; and some suggestions for what they shouldn’t do, like over-paying under-performing CEOs.

I wasn’t the only one catching-up (or getting caught up) this week though:

• The Obama administration has caught up to the biosimilars debate in the U.S., coming up with a proposed 7-year data exclusivity period that it called a “generous compromise”; and
• Collaborations between non-profit foundations and commercial entities have been caught up in the recession, with the main effect being more funding for existing projects and fewer new opportunities being pursued.

Catch up with all the biotechnology you can stand at the Cross-Border Biotech Blog.