Speedy vaccine

US regulators have granted the maker of a promising influenza vaccine ‘fast track’ status in its licensing application — increasing the chances that it will be ready in time for the flu season after next. ID Biomedical of Vancouver, British Columbia, already supplies the injectable vaccine, called Fluviral, in Canada. US distributors have committed to making 38 million doses of it available each year if the vaccine wins approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Chip wars

European Commission officials launched a series of dawn raids on offices of Intel, as part of an investigation into allegations that the chip-maker has been abusing its dominant position in the market for microprocessors in personal computers. The aggressive action by the commission's competition directorate on 12 July led some analysts to conclude that it thinks it has a strong case against California-based Intel. Rival chip-maker AMD has filed complaints to the directorate about Intel's business practices twice, in 2000 and 2004.

Biotech leader soars

Stock in Genentech rocketed to almost $90 after forecasts of increased earnings and promising results from a trial of its drug Tarceva in lung cancer patients. The San Francisco-based biotechnology company's healthy second-quarter results were based on stronger-than-expected sales for Tarceva and other cancer drugs. Genentech's market capitalization has more than doubled since March to some $90 billion — exceeding that of major pharmaceutical companies, such as New Jersey-based Merck.