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

• Bayer to increase R&D budget, CEO says
  Bayer plans to increase spending next year on research and development, which is valued at about $4.3 billion, CEO Werner Wenning said. The company announced in September that it will invest more than $100 million at its plant in Berkeley, Calif., to produce hemophilia drug Kogenate. American City Business Journals/San Francisco (11/12)

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Health Care & Policy

• Europe could beat U.S. in biopharma innovation
  Europe could overthrow the U.S. as a leader in the biotech-drug industry if U.S. lawmakers decide to shorten intellectual property protection for brand-name biologics under proposed legislation, writes Benedetto Della Vedova, former member of the European Parliament. A proposal to provide five to seven years of protection -- shorter than Europe's 10 years -- would stifle innovation and diminish the chance of U.S. companies to be globally competitive, giving way for European firms to create the next generation of biotech treatments, Della Vedova writes. The Wall Street Journal (11/12)

• Hamburg: FDA is working to boost efficiency of drug regulation
  FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said she will visit China next year to look into safety policies related to imported products. The agency is hiring more staff, leveraging science and working on other means to speed up drug-approval reviews, Hamburg said at the Reuters Health Summit. Reuters (11/12)

• Interaction between 2 genes might serve as drug target for cancer
  Canadian researchers found that a surge in the level of Eph receptors, which are found at a high level in cancer, caused premature death in worms by reducing the level of tumor-suppressing gene PTEN. The connection between the two genes might be used as a therapeutic target for cancer, they said. United Press International (11/12)

Company & Financial News

• Abbott to buy rights to Dutch biotech firm's pain drug
  Abbott Laboratories agreed to pay $190 million to acquire global rights to PanGenetics' PG110, an experimental pain treatment. Abbott officials said they hope to introduce injectable and intravenous versions of the drug, which is in Phase I trials. Chicago Tribune (11/12)

• Microchip raises $18.1M in Series B funding
  Microchip Biotechnologies has secured $18.1 million in a new round of financing led by Domain Associates. The company will use the proceeds to bring to market its Apollo 100 System used for preparing laboratory samples and develop a new line of DNA and RNA sequencing technologies. American City Business Journals/San Francisco (11/12)

• Sigma-Aldrich in global distribution deal with Stemgent
  Stemgent has made Sigma-Aldrich a global distributor of its lentivirus-based delivery systems for induced pluripotent stem cells. The systems are targeted for researchers involved in reprogramming mouse and human cells into iPS cells for various applications, including regenerative medicine and disease research. GenomeWeb Daily News (11/11)

• Talecris to announce expansion, shares company results
  Talecris Biotherapeutics is poised to announce a plan to expand its plant in North Carolina. The first phase of the expansion is anticipated to be a $280 million facility for the separation of blood plasma proteins used in drug development. The company also reported an increase in revenue and profit during the third quarter, owing to sales of its blood plasma-derived drug products. The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) (11/12) , The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) (11/10)

• Life Technologies summit focuses on stem cell therapy
  Life Technologies held the two-day Cell Therapy Industry Summit to gather scientists and life sciences firms to discuss advances related to treatments based on stem cells. Paul Pickering, general manager of Life's cell-therapy unit, said the field needs assistance to reach its potential. North County Times (Calif.) (11/12)

Featured Content

Food & Agriculture

• Dow unit, DuPont team up to develop biotech soybeans
  Dow AgroSciences, a Dow Chemical unit, has partnered with DuPont to develop soybeans that can tolerate herbicides. The deal entitles DuPont's Pioneer Hi-Bred division to gain nonexclusive licensing rights to Dow AgroSciences' herbicide-tolerant trait technology and calls for Pioneer to nonexclusively license to Dow its Optimum GAT trait for the crop. Google/The Associated Press (11/12)

News from BIO

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