Nastech cites Merck’s demonstrated urgency to enter the class and its R&D capabilities as a reason to collaborate on the nasal spray agent earlier than planned and before it has completed Phase II trials. Merck would be primarily responsible for worldwide research, regulatory approvals, sales and marketing.

Celgene will get exclusive use of Quanticel's single-cell genomic analysis to tweak its clinical pipeline, and it also has exclusive options to acquire the venture-backed start-up.

With an unrestricted label and once-daily dosing, rivaroxaban will do battle with Boehringer-Ingelheim's dabigatran, which is dosed twice a day but can claim superior efficacy to warfarin in the atrial fibrillation population.