It's been a roller coaster week for Gilead Sciences as the company posted strong fourth quarter 2007 results Tuesday and had four patents for its combination AIDS drug Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) rejected Wednesday.

Vermont amended its data mining law to avoid constitutional issues that, so far, have undermined similar statutes in other states.

A Maine law that would have limited access by medical data companies to doctors' prescription information was reversed on constitutional grounds.

Competitors have stepped up efforts to market generic versions of some of Wyeth's biggest drugs, threatening to sap hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.

The lawyer for an ex-Pfizer employee bringing a whistleblower suit against Pfizer said he isn't phased by the government's decision to refrain from the case.

Novo Nordisk signed an exclusive agreement with Sciele Pharma to market Prandin (repaglinide).

Cephalon said it will pay $425 million to settle a US Justice Department investigation into practices of off-label marketing of products including its pain reliever Actiq.

Merck will pay $4.85 billion to settle the nearly 27,000 Vioxx lawsuits filed against the company by persons or family members claiming the drug injured or caused the death of its users.

A federal judge has dismissed part of the lawsuit brought by Johnson & Johnson against the American Red Cross seeking to restrict the relief organization's use of its iconic logo on first aid, health, safety and emergency preparedness products.

AstraZeneca has been issued a generic challenge to its blockbuster cholesterol drug Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) by Canada's Cobalt Pharmaceuticals.