Pharma Roundup: Pfizer Sells Experimental Drugs, Genentech Tight-Lipped on Roche, and More

(MoneyWatch)  Pfizer pawns off irrelevant drugs -- Pfizer just sold rights to over 100 experimental drugs. The closeout comes on the heels of the company's autumn promise to streamline R&D; the ditched treatments focus on conditions Pfizer will no longer study, like obesity and high cholesterol. [Source: WSJ Health Blog]

Genentech: mum's still the word on Roche -- File this in the "no news is kind of news" folder. At the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, a San Francisco event for investors, Genentech execs gave no new information on the Roche deal. CEO Art Levinson did say, however, that the company's efforts to retain employees in the face of the buyout had been very successful. [Source: Pharma's Market]

Cephalon buys rights to first biologic -- As it pays $100 million for an option payment on Ception (an outright purchase will cost $250 million, if the option is taken), Cephalon obtains rights to reslizumab, a treatment for pediatric inflammation of the gullet. CEO Frank Baldino said the drug would be the first biologic in the company's portfolio. [Source: PharmaTimes]

A 2008 M&A top 10 -- It's still the season for end-of-year lists; check out this orderly tabulation of the industry's 10 most valuable mergers and acquisitions in 2008, prepared by FierceMarkets. Novartis and Alcon top the list; Takeda and Millennium take a distant second. [Source: FierceBiotech]