March 1, 2006 -- Rituxan, a joint production of Genentech and Biogen Idec, won FDA approval for the add-on indication of rheumatoid arthritis; CancerVax filed to take a novel cancer drug into the clinic; the FDA accepted the filing for Genasense from Genta; GenVec received an additional $1.7 million from the USDA to develop a vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease; a spray applicator from Vivus won an additional patent that protects the device until 2022; Schwarz Pharma of Germany received an approvable letter from the FDA for Neupro, a therapy for early Parkinson’s disease; and a study showed that Celebrex from Pfizer increased the risk of heart attacks. The Centient Biotech 200™ traded up 23 points to 4055.48, a gain of .58%. More details...
