Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, whose only product is a treatment for age-related macular degeneration, agreed to sell itself to OSI Pharmaceuticals for about $935 million. OSI markets the Tarceva cancer drug, and Chief Executive Collin Goddard said the purchase would allow it to expand into the eye-treatment market.

GlaxoSmithKline said this week it would pay $1.4 billion to acquire ID Biomedical, a Canadian vaccine maker. The agreement does not preclude another company from making a higher offer, but Glaxo would have the right to match such an offer.

Fission Communications has created a new division, Fission Meeting Management Services, to help clients plan and execute special events for all types of organizations. Blanca Diaz, senior director of meeting services, will head the unit.

Palio Communications earned a bronze award at the 2005 International Awards of Excellence (IN-AWE) in the category of journal advertising and self-promotion. The industry advertising award, bestowed by the Medical Marketing Association (MMA), recognized the agency’s “Never Be Forgotten” print ad campaign.

InChord Communications and Italian ad firm DWA have partnered to create a new agency to focus on healthcare marketing clients in Italy. DWA Health will be based in Milan with an office in Turin.

Japanese clinical research organization Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories  has opened a facility in the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s BioPark. The 40,000-square-foot site focuses on Phase I/IIa clinical trials, particularly safety and tolerability testing, for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. Capabilities include the areas of CNS, cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal.

Sanofi-Aventis Group has extended a research collaboration between its Aventis Pharmaceuticals  unit and ImmunoGen for a fourth year, committing $18.2 million in research support that will start next September. The funding is in addition to research support committed for the three years ending August 31, 2006. The collaboration aims to discover, develop, and commercialize novel antibody-based anticancer products.

Ferndale Laboratories has created Biopelle, a new division devoted to aesthetic medicine.