While You Were Selecting

It was all ACC and NCAA this weekend, so lets get to the heart of it (thanks we'll be here all week). Actually, no, we have to get something off our chests: The Cornell Big Red deserved better than a 12 seed! Seriously, committee, that's harsh. And pitting Cornell against Temple? Way to make it all about the ex-Penn coaching matchup. Pffft.

Anyway, while you were Springing forward ...

• ACC: Navigator leads Novartis down the wrong path. Studies of Diovan and Starlix in high-risk patients don't pay off for the Big Pharma (Bloomberg).


• ACC: Tricor trips up Abbott. (At least they've got heart valve clips to pick up the slack.) The drug, when added to simvastatin, didn't result in better outcomes than simvastin alone in the five-year ACCORD study conducted by the NHLBI. "The Pink Sheet"'s report is here. Is it the end of Tricor? Is it the beginning (or the middle) of the end for drugs without outcomes data? Did I leave the iron on?


• The NYT muses on the impact of the health reform outcome on the Obama presidency. For the twenty thousandth time.


• Remember that other March madness game of interest? Astellas' unsolicted--hey, we don't want to color your thinking with the word "hostile"--bid for OSI? OSI officially urged shareholders to reject the latest offer this morning. The tender wraps up March 31.


• It was bad news/good news for the Byetta LAR triumvirate Lilly/Amylin/Alkermes. The FDA dinged the drug with a complete response asking for a REMs and clarification about manufacturing processes, but apparently no additional lengthy clinical trials are needed.


• Privately-held Bausch & Lomb announces two ex-Schering execs totop spots. Fred Hassan takes over as chairman and Brent Saunders, who previously served as president of Schering-Plough's consumer healthcare unit under Hassan, will be Bausch's CEO. Does this mean B&L will be more actively eyeing optho Rx and consumer deals?


• What's in YOUR bracket? IVB is curious ... maybe we'll set up a tourney pool this year if we can think of a suitable prize.

image from flickr user mr lynch used under a creative commons license