The news summaries appearing in BIO SmartBrief are based on original information from news organizations and are produced by SmartBrief, Inc., an independent e-mail newsletter publisher. The information is not compiled or summarized by BIO. Questions and comments should be directed to SmartBrief at bio@smartbrief.com.

Today's Top Story

• Drug industry heavyweights: Research cuts threaten U.S.
  Public funding of agencies that support scientific and biomedical research pays significant dividends and should be restored immediately, write former Genentech CSO Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Chairman P. Roy Vagelos and former NIH Director and Sanofi R&D President Elias Zerhouni. Great strides have been made in cardiovascular and HIV/AIDS research thanks to NIH funding, but Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases threaten to break the nation's bank in the absence of investments in research, they write. Even before sequestration, steadily eroding funds squeezed research and sent many U.S. scientists abroad, harming U.S. competitiveness, they write. Forbes (3/6)     

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Health Care & Policy

• Roche gets FDA OK for advanced hepatitis C viral load assay
  Roche has received the FDA's approval for the Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HCV Test, v2.0, a PCR-based assay for managing patients with the hepatitis C virus. The test measures six genotypes of HCV RNA to assess the effect of antiviral treatment. GenomeWeb Daily News (free registration) (3/6)     

• Regulators extend Pfizer's patent on Celebrex
  The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office extended the patent on Pfizer's Celebrex until Dec. 2, 2015, for arthritis and other conditions, extending market exclusivity by a year and a half. Pfizer filed suit against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Mylan, Actavis (formerly Watson), Lupin and Apotex to block U.S. sales of generic versions beginning in May 2014. Reuters (3/5)     

• PsiOxus' cancer cachexia drug enters midstage development
  PsiOxus Therapeutics has finished enrolling 87 patients for a midstage trial of MT-102, its experimental drug for cancer cachexia. The trial will involve patients with late-stage lung or colon cancer suffering from severe weight loss and fatigue. Pharmaceutical Business Review Online (3/5)     

• Nanoparticles could aid fast test for infectious diseases
  A screening method that uses DNA powder and gold nanoparticles has passed tests involving the identification of malaria and sexually transmitted diseases, researchers at the University of Toronto's Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie. The test is being developed as a fast point-of-care assay for the diagnosis of multiple infections from a single small sample. MedicalDaily.com (3/5)     

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Company & Financial News

• TauRx gets $10.5M investment for Alzheimer's drug trial
  TauRx Pharmaceuticals received an additional $10.5 million investment from Dundee for three continuing late-stage trials of its drug candidate LMTX in patients with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The firm has started patient enrollment. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (3/5)     

Industry Deals

• Array, Global Blood ally to discover drugs for chronic blood disorders
  Array BioPharma and Global Blood Therapeutics agreed to collaborate in the discovery of small-molecule compounds to treat chronic blood-based conditions. Array will develop tests and screen its molecule library for modulators of targets chosen by Global Blood. American City Business Journals/San Francisco/BiotechSF blog (3/6), Pharmaceutical Business Review Online (3/6)     

• Cylene licenses cancer compound and technologies to TetraGene
  TetraGene was granted exclusive option and licensing rights to Cylene Pharmaceuticals' cancer-targeting compound quarfloxin and related technologies. Cylene will get an upfront payment, potential milestone fees plus sales royalties. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (3/6), San Diego Business Journal (3/7)     

Food & Agriculture

• Agriculture official: China will continue to import biotech soybeans
  China expects to import biotech soybeans "for quite a long period of time," said senior agricultural official Chen Xiwen. China's main biotech crop is cotton, he said. Global Times (China)/Xinhuanet (3/7)     

Industrial & Environmental

• Australian group reports progress in advanced-biofuel project
  Australia-based Agritechnology has identified a site in New South Wales for a demonstration-scale advanced biofuel plant. The planned facility is expected to turn sweet sorghum, native grasses and sugarcane into renewable fuels, the company said. "We are a long way off but ultimately we'd like to provide an opportunity for farmers to have a market for feedstocks that can be used in this production," said Derek Robinson of Agritechnology. Biofuels-News.com (U.K.) (3/6)     

News from BIO

• BIOtechNOW
  BIOtechNOW is the first in a number of new products from BIO intended to enhance our communications with the biotech community -- not only with our members, but with other stakeholders as well. This e-newsletter, combined with its website, serves as our flagship in that effort. BIOtechNOW will offer original content that emphasizes the business needs of the industry; highlight BIO's advocacy efforts; and provide a portal to all BIO activities and events. Most importantly, it will spotlight for those outside the industry the value of biotechnology. Sign up for the e-newsletter.     

SmartQuote

Scientific progress makes moral progress a necessity; for if man's power is increased, the checks that restrain him from abusing it must be strengthened." --Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, Swiss author