May 1, 2006 -- AstraZeneca received FDA approval on Nexium, its heartburn drug, for children between the ages of 12 and 17; MedImmune’s new inhaled flu vaccine was 55% more effective than the comparable shot; Ista Pharma touted a model that predicts the success of Vitrase in treating vitreous hemorrhage associated with diabetes; Alnylam’s inhaled antibiotic passed its tolerability tests in a Phase I trial; the FDA signed off on a higher dose of a combination cardiovascular drug from Novartis; NeoPharm reduced its employee count by 23%; a scientific meeting in Austria focusing on liver problems produced a raft of reports from drugs seeking to treat hepatitis C, including candidates from Coley,Human Genome, Vertex Pharma and Idenix. The Centient Biotech 200™ closed 27 points lower at 2570.79, a loss of .71%. More details...
