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Australia blames refugee advocates after asylum seeker sets herself alight

By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia blamed refugee advocates on Tuesday for “encouraging” asylum seekers held in remote camps towards acts of self-harm after a woman set herself on fire, while the United Nations renewed its criticism of Australia's harsh immigration policy. Australian officials said an unidentified 21-year-old Somali woman was in a critical condition after she set herself alight at an Australian detention camp on the tiny South Pacific island of Nauru on Monday, the second such incident in a week. A 23-year-old Iranian man also set himself on fire last week in protest against his treatment on Nauru and later died.

FDA eye drug rebuff adds to Shire’s woes in Baxalta pursuit

(Reuters) – Shire Plc suffered a setback for its most important pipeline medicine late on Friday, adding to the group's problems as it pursues Baxalta Inc to forge the leading global specialist in rare diseases. The Irish company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had declined to approve its new eye drug lifitegrast and had requested an additional clinical study. The news comes just over a week before the FDA was supposed to make a decision on the treatment for dry eye disease, which analysts have penciled in as a potential $1 billion-a-year-plus seller.

Merck cholesterol drug’s odds dim after Lilly failure

The odds that Merck & Co’s high-stakes cholesterol drug will succeed have dropped dramatically after Eli Lilly and Co said its similar medicine failed to reduce heart attacks and strokes, top U.S. heart doctors said. Lilly on Monday said it was halting a 12,000-patient study of its drug, evacetrapib, an oral medication. In earlier studies, the treatment cut “bad” LDL cholesterol by 30 to 35 percent and doubled the levels of “good” LDL cholesterol.

FDA approves Emergent BioSolutions’ inhaled anthrax treatment

Emergent BioSolutions Inc said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its treatment for inhaled anthrax, triggering a $7 million milestone payment from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The company developed the treatment, Anthrasil, as part of a $160 million contract it signed in 2005 with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a part of the HHS. Anthrasil, which is approved in combination with other antibacterials, is already being stored in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile, the company said on Wednesday. The drug is made using plasma from healthy, screened donors who have been immunized with Emergent Bio's Anthrax vaccine, BioThrax, the only FDA-licensed vaccine for the disease.

Motor racing-Injured Bottas to miss Australian GP

(Adds details) By Julian Linden MELBOURNE, March 15 (Reuters) – Williams driver Valtteri Bottas withdrew from Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix because of a back injury. The team released a statement less than hour before the start of Sunday’s race saying the scans had shown that Bottas had suffered a tear in a disc in his lower back and would not take part in the race. “Valtteri has since been evaluated by the FIA’s medical team and following a series of tests, the FIA Medical Delegate has deemed Valtteri unfit to take part in this afternoon’s race. “The team respect the FIA’s decision and will now work with Valtteri ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix (on March 29) to ensure he receives the treatment required to get him back to full fitness.” Bottas enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2014, securing six podium finishes for Williams to claim fourth place in the championship.