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• Threshold and Merck agree $525M licensing deal for cancer drug

  Threshold Pharma has entered into a $525 million licensing pact with Merck covering its late-stage cancer drug TH-302, fiercebiotech.com reports, citing Dow Jones. [FULL STORY]

• Top Canada court denies Pfizer appeal over Apotex glaucoma drug

  The Supreme Court of Canada has denied an appeal by Pfizer Canada over a generic drug produced by Apotex to treat glaucoma, Bloomberg reports. [FULL STORY]

• FDA approves Merck's Janumet XR For type II diabetes

  Merck said on Thursday that the FDA has approved its Janumet XR tablets as a new treatment for type II diabetes, RTTNews reports. [FULL STORY]

• Lawyer says GSK settles 20,000 Avandia lawsuits

  GSK, which is paying $3 billion to resolve government claims that it illegally marketed drugs such as the Avandia diabetes medication, agreed to settle more lawsuits over the pills, a lawyer said, Bloomberg reports. [FULL STORY]

• Teva's OGX-427 for prostate cancer shows positive results

  OncoGenex has announced preliminary results from a Phase II prostate cancer study with its investigational compound OGX-427, which is designed to inhibit the production of Hsp27, theflyonthewall.com reports. [FULL STORY]

• Takeda/Sucampo's laxative meets key goal in Phase III trial for OBD

  Sucampo and Takeda announced on Thursday that their drug lubiprostone, marketed under the trade name Amitiza, met the primary endpoint in a late-stage clinical trial for opioid-induced bowel dysfunction, or OBD, RTTNews reports. [FULL STORY]

• Study says Bristol-Myers/Pfizer's Eliquis beats aspirin in preventing repeat strokes

  According to the results of a new study an investigational drug called apixaban (Eliquis) appears to be better than aspirin at preventing blood clots in certain patients who have already suffered a stroke or so-called 'mini-stroke' due to an abnormal heart rhythm, HealthDay News reports. [FULL STORY]

• NICE rejects J&J's Zytiga

  Britain's health cost watchdog NICE sparked a major row on Thursday by rejecting a pricey new prostate cancer pill discovered at the country's top cancer research centre, a decision critics said was bad for patients and research, Reuters reports. [FULL STORY]

• Merck beats estimates on diabetes drug sales

  Merck has reported fourth quarter profit that topped analyst estimates on higher sales of the Januvia diabetes drug, Bloomberg reports. [FULL STORY]

• AstraZeneca cuts 7300 jobs

  AstraZeneca is cutting a further 7300 jobs and expects earnings to fall 14-18 per cent this year as patents on key drugs expire and governments in Europe and the US squeeze prices, Reuters reports. [FULL STORY]