Novartis and Alnylam Announce New Collaboration to Develop RNAi Therapeutics and Abbott Launches First Complete Blood Glucose Monitoring System

February 24 2006

Biotechnology industry news provided by Financial News USA (OTC: FNWU) Novartis (NYSE: NVS) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced recently that they have formed a new collaboration to develop RNAi therapeutics for pandemic flu. This collaboration is in addition to the collaboration formed by the two companies in September 2005, and significantly reinforces the development program for pandemic flu announced by Alnylam in December 2005. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) said Tuesday that Food and Drug Administration approved its new antifungal medication designed to fight bloodstream infections. The FDA approved Eraxis to treat candidemia, a sometimes fatal blood infection that is commonly spread in hospitals. The company found in clinical trials that Eraxis outperformed its other antifungal treatment Diflucan in treating candidemia.

Recently at the 78th Annual Western Veterinary Conference, Abbott (NYSE:ABT) announced the launch of the AlphaTRAK(TM), the first complete hand-held blood glucose monitoring system designed specifically for diabetic cats and dogs. The AlphaTRAK allows veterinarians and pet owners to test pets' blood sugar rapidly, conveniently and accurately with a very small blood sample, without relying on blood glucose meters designed for humans, which can produce widely variable and inaccurate results in pets. U.S. BioDefense (OTC Bulletin Board: UBDE) is pleased to announce recently that it has successfully completed the evaluation and validation of its human neural crest stem cells as a part of its agreement with the University of British Columbia. Director of Research, Dr. Cyndi Chen, Ph.D. stated "This is exciting news for us and the medical community. The possibilities of developing neural crest stem cell therapies and treatments for a number of degenerative diseases give hopes to those who suffer from these debilitating diseases."

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