Insomnia

...ba href=/insomnia/a/b, decreases sleep latency and improves sleep maintenance; and Macugen(R) which treats neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

"We have seen some exceptional advances in the treatment of critical disease conditions, with many promising therapies now in Phase III clinical trials, encompassing both vaccines to prevent disease and more effective life-saving therapies," said Aitken.

"For example, Gardasil(R) and Cervarix(R) promise to be effective vaccines against HPV, the cause of nearly three-quarters of the cases of cervical cancer, which last year contributed to the death of more than a quarter of a million people worldwide.

These and other therapies for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes will improve life expectancy and enhance patient quality of life." In 2005, more than 2,300 products were in clinical development, up 9 percent from 2004 levels, and up 31 percent over the past three years.

A promising range of drugs are now in Phase III clinical trials or pre-approval stage, including 96 oncology products, 51 products for treating cardiovascular disease, 37 for viral infections and HIV, and 28 for arthritis/pain.

Of the total pipeline, 27 percent of these products are biologic in nature-an all-time high.

Biologics also experienced strong growth overall, adding $7.6 billion in sales to the global pharmaceutical market in 2005.

Led by Amgen, Roche/Genentech and Johnson and Johnson, this sector grew 17.1 percent in 2005, generating sa...

...ba href=/insomnia/a/b treatment market.Bernstein Research recently started coverage of Neurocrine with an "Outperform" rating and a price target of $91.With a decision by the Food and Drug Administration on Neurocrine's sleeping pill Indiplon anticipated by April and an expected launch by May, Bernstein said in a note that Pfizer could justify a $3.1 billion to $4.1 billion takeover of Neurocrine given an estimated $2.6 billion milestone and royalty obligation to the company.

Pfizer already has co-promotion rights to the drug.Bernstein estimates the $2 billion U.S.

market for ba href=/insomnia/a/b medications will continue to grow at 30 percent to 35 percent rate year-over-year.Indiplon has a relatively clean adverse event profile, and will likely be approved for extended, six-month dosing, the firm said.

Bernstein believes these factors should give Indiplon an advantage over Sanofi-Aventis SA's Ambien and Sepracor Inc.'s Lunesta.Shares of Neurocrine Biosciences, which were up as high as 5 percent earlier in the morning, rose $1.39, or 2 percent, to $71.03 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.

Pfizer shares fell 3 cents to $26.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.© 2006 The Associated Press.

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...ba href=/insomnia/a/b, depression and myalgia.

VISER1 Trial Design The VISER1 trial (VISER stands for VIramidine's Safety and Efficacy vs.

Ribavirin) evaluated a fixed 600 mg BID dose of Viramidine to a weight-based 1,000/1,200 mg daily dose of ribavirin, both in combination with peginterferon alfa 2b.

The study, conducted in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, New Zealand and Australia, enrolled 970 treatment-naive subjects with chronic HCV.

Treatment duration was based on genotype, with genotypes 2 and 3 receiving 24 weeks of treatment and genotype non 2, 3 receiving 48 weeks of treatment, each with a post-treatment follow-up period of 24 weeks.

The study was stratified for genotype, weight and viral load.

Additional information regarding the Phase 3 trial was furnished by the company today with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 8-K and is also available on the company's Web site at www.valeant.com.

Conference Call and Webcast Information: Valeant will host a conference call today at 8:30 a.m.

EST (5:30 a.m.

PST) to discuss the VISER1 data results.

The dial-in number to participate on this call is (877) 295-5743, confirmation code 6907744.

International callers should dial (706) 679-0845, confirmation code 6907744.

The company will also webcast the conference call live over the Internet.

The webcast may be accessed through the investor relations section of Valeant's corporate Web site at www.valeant.com.

Viramidine is an investigational compound that has not be...