ALSO NOTED: India, U.S. to collaborate on drug regulation; British officials add Smith & Nephew to Iraq probe;

With China down, India's next: U.S. and Indian officials plan to work together to set up a food-and-drug regulatory agency on the subcontinent, modeled after--what else?--the U.S. FDA. Report

Britain's Serious Fraud Office is asking for documents from device maker Smith & Nephew as part of a larger probe into possible bribes of Iraqi officials associated with the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program. Report

Merck will sell a 327-acre manufacturing complex in Pennsylvania to PRWT Services, a newcomer to the pharma field. Post-sale, PRWT will continue to operate the plant, supplying Merck with chemicals and/or drugs to the tune of $100 million to $200 million a year. Report

King Pharmaceuticals dropped its patent infringement suit against CorePharma over the muscle relaxant Skelaxin, granting CorePharma rights to make an authorized generic version. Report

Reckitt Benckiser got early regulatory clearance to buy Adams Respiratory Therapeutics. Release

Japan's Taisho has granted all commercial rights to its preclinical schizophrenia drug outside of Japan to Pfizer for $22 million up front. Report

China's biotech sector is small compared to its pharma activities, but it's growing fast. Report

Here's one for the record books: 2007 finished with the worst record for new molecular entity approvals since 1983. Report

And Finally... An lawyer and critic of the Vioxx litigation and plaintiff's attorney Mark Lanier are engaging in some online bickering over the $4.8 billion settlement. Report