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

• Genentech panel advises against Roche's takeover bid
  A three-member committee of Genentech directors unanimously recommended that shareholders reject Roche's $42 billion buyout bid, saying the offer "substantially undervalues" the biotech company. "We are disappointed that Roche has chosen not to consider an appropriate price range for Genentech's minority shares or to constructively negotiate with our committee, and we must recommend that stockholders not tender their shares as a result," they wrote in a statement. Financial Times (free content) (2/24), San Francisco Chronicle (2/23)

Health Care in Transition

• Obama to outline health-reform plans this week, official says
  President Barack Obama is scheduled today to meet with the House and Senate to discuss how he intends to pay for health care reforms in his budget plan and to emphasize that overhauling the U.S. health care system is a priority, an administration official said. Obama on Thursday will submit his budget proposal to Congress, the official said. Bloomberg (2/23)

• Obama: States to get $15B in Medicaid funding
  The administration on Wednesday will begin distributing more than $15 billion in federal Medicaid funding to states, President Barack Obama announced at the National Governors Association's annual meeting. The funding, which is part of the stimulus package, will enable states to address the problem of rising unemployment and lack of health care coverage for millions of Americans, Obama said. Modern Healthcare (free registration) (2/23)

• Report: U.S. health spending to reach $2.5 trillion this year
  U.S. spending for health care this year is expected to reach $2.5 trillion, a 17.6% share of the economy, according to a CMS report. While the economic downturn has boosted spending in public health programs such as Medicaid, spending in private health insurance has slowed, the agency said. The report also predicted a steady rise in the health share of the economy through 2018, which could encourage lawmakers and President Barack Obama to enact major health system reforms. Yahoo!/Reuters (2/24)

Health Care & Policy

• Study: MicroRNAs might predict drug-induced liver toxicity
  U.S. scientists working on mice found a correlation between a high concentration of genetic material called microRNAs in the blood and liver toxicity caused by exposure to acetaminophen. "It is a possibility that these microRNAs will be a very important biomarker not only for drug-induced liver injury but for many different types of diseases," one of the researchers said. Yahoo!/Reuters (2/23)

Company & Financial News

• GTx starts trials of drug for advanced prostate cancer
  GTx has started the clinical study of its luteinizing hormone inhibitor, an androgen deprivation treatment, in patients with advanced prostate cancer. The company's oral treatment does not cause muscle loss, hot flashes and other side effects. American City Business Journals/Memphis, Tenn. (2/23)

• Sources: Calif. investor to help set up $1B fund for Minn. biotech park
  Tower Investments is expected to close a deal with California investor Steven Burrill to provide a $1 billion venture capital fund that will help encourage startup firms to establish operations at a biosciences park in Pine Island, Minn., sources say. Tower Investments will develop the 1.7 million-square-foot park, which will serve as a testing and manufacturing space for medical devices, pharmaceuticals and other biotech products. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) (2/23)

• Teva shops for additional specialty drugs
  Teva Pharmaceutical Industries plans to intensify its focus on "niche specialty disease categories" by purchasing rights to drugs for cancer and neurological and autoimmune disorders. The company is working to add cancer medicines to its portfolio and launch its multiple sclerosis drug laquinimod by the second half of 2011, said Jon Congleton, general manager of Teva's U.S. neuroscience unit. Bloomberg (2/23)

• Other News

• Repros Therapeutics appoints new president
  Forbes/The Associated Press (2/23)

Global Developments

• ThromboGenics continues search for co-developer of blood-clot drug
  ThromboGenics CEO Patrik De Haes said the company and its partner BioInvent International are still in pursuit of a bigger company to help bring their anti-clotting drug TB-402 to late-stage development and commercialization. ThromboGenics has just kicked off a Phase II trial of the injectable treatment's use in patients who underwent surgery. Reuters (2/23)

Featured Content

Food & Agriculture

• Welsh minister urges new rules for biotech crop planting
  Elin Jones, minister of Rural Affairs and Assembly Member for Ceredigion, Wales, is expected to announce proposed new rules on the planting, harvesting and processing of biotech crops. A discussion on the proposed change to the co-existence policy could start in spring. BBC (2/24)

Industrial & Environmental

• Prospects to increase ethanol-blend rate promising, governors say
  Members of the Governors' Biofuels Coalition believe the EPA soon will increase from 10% to 13% the amount of ethanol that can be mixed with gasoline. North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, who chairs the coalition, said he hopes the agency will issue a waiver that permits the 13% blend rate "within weeks or months." Reuters (2/24)

• Diplomats: EU plans to impose trade duties on U.S. biofuels
  The European Union is planning to introduce trade duties on U.S.-imported biofuels to help address complaints from European manufacturers that American companies unfairly receive more support, diplomats said. European producers say their U.S. counterparts get subsidies from both the federal government and individual governments in the EU. The European Commission can implement temporary duties only in cases of such trade disagreements, said Peter Power, a spokesman for EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton. International Herald Tribune (2/23)

News from BIO

• Feeling the pinch in today's market hurts
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SmartQuote

Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it." --John Naisbitt, American best-selling author and public speaker