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'Day of appreciation' becomes flashpoint over 'forced' double shifts..Merck & Co.'s plant in Pennsylvania has been impacted by the drugmaker's drastic job cuts in the last 5 years, losing hundreds of manufacturing jobs. Now, in an email exchange made public by one of the unions there, a labor official has lashed out at CEO Ken Frazier, saying workers are now forced to work 16-hours shifts,the fatigue…puts themselves and others in danger...

Lundbeck has initiated a rejig of its pipeline, taking an ax to undisclosed early-stage assets in order to funnel cash into.. its most promising candidates…schizophrenia drug Lu AF35700 is among the beneficiaries… many of the drugs that are available..predominantly driving effects through D2 (receptor).. 35700..has a strong binding affinity to the D1 receptor… hopes to differentiate its pipeline candidate… through its side effect profile, giving patients who are resistant to D2-targeted drugs a treatment option that doesn't cause weight gain and metabolic disturbances.

10 best-selling brand-name drugs have generated $48.5 billion in sales this year through June 2015,…gross sales from the following 10 drugs comprise 43% of the nearly $112.5 billion in total drug sales generated by the 100 best-selling drugs..

1. Humira (Abbott) - $8.6 billion
2. Abilify (Otsuka) - $7.2 billion
3. Enbrel (Amgen) - $6.1 billion
4. Crestor (AstraZeneca) - $6.1 billion
5. Lantus Solostar (Sanofi-Aventis) - $5 billion
6. Sovaldi (Gilead Sciences) - $4.9 billion
7. Advair Diskus (GlaxoSmithKline) - $4.8 billion
8. Nexium (AstraZeneca) - $4.7 billion
9. Januvia (Merck) – $3.8 billion
10. Lyrica (Pfizer) - $3.4 billion

Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc is the talk of the town…the company released promising secondary endpoint results from the Phase 2 trial of a new drug targeting interstitial cystitis, a painful bladder condition…"The encouraging effect…observed on the primary endpoint of reduction in pain…underscore the potential of AQX-1125 as a once daily, oral therapy for this debilitating disease,"...

Novartis has agreed to buy all remaining rights to ofatumumab (Arzerra) from Britain's GlaxoSmithKline for up to $1 billion, boosting the Swiss drugmaker's stable of multiple sclerosis treatments…. it is currently being developed for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and other auto-immune conditions…

There’s little chance US companies will consider Iran as a venue for pharmaceutical contract manufacturing, even in the current era of limited détente…second-biggest economy in the Middle East and has a large pharmaceutical sector…nuclear agreement…even if passed by Congress, doesn’t include any commitment to remove sanctions that may restrict direct manufacturing activities..

Developing countries like China, Brazil and India will drive nearly half of the growth in drug spending in the near future…pharmerging nations–developing countries…are expected to see the fastest growth in total drug spending over the next three years, making them attractive targets for drug makers…beware…reliance on lower-cost generics will make it a tricky opportunity to play...

Diplomat Pharmacy has been named the exclusive distributor for Taro’s primary hyperkalemic and hypokalemic periodic paralysis treatment, Keveyis (dichlorphenamide)… Taro has created the Keys2Care program, which will provide a suite of patient support services to ensure people diagnosed with periodic paralysis can receive treatment with Keveyis as soon as possible…. expected to be available in the third quarter..

Concerns over the state of China's economy have hit world stock markets this week, yet one group of Western companies could benefit from regulatory developments…a decision…to speed up the review process for some of their products is being seen…offering a potential boost,… China's Food & Drug Administration said… the country aimed to "set up a more scientific and efficient system to ensure the safety and quality of medicines…appraisal and approval process of innovative drugs will be accelerated..

Jason Kolbert, Maxim Group senior biotechnology analyst, and CNBC's Meg Tirrell discuss the biotech sector and biotech valuations. (video)