This Week’s Biotech Highlights

Since my clients and colleagues have been remarkably gracious about my attempts to vacation this week, I will keep this brief and return to my rest BEvERage novel kids. Here’s some of what has been going on in my absence:

• Some fairly significant deal activity, especially for the end of August. Biovail picked up product rights from Swiss company Santhera, and Cardiome decided to use $27.5 million to buy back shares instead of to perform R&D.
• Some further good vibes for biotech investing, with more industry journalists picking up the meme, and rumours of new IPOs.
• Some food for thought in the area of comparative effectiveness, prompted by the question of what to pay for in the absence of definitive data on which treatment is best. My answer: whatever the patient and his/her doctor decide.

Until next week, keep an eye on the Twitterverse and the Cross-Border Biotech Blog. Cheers!