Green light for biogeneric

The European Commission granted its first-ever approval to a generic biological drug — for Omnitrope, a copycat version of human growth hormone, made by the Sandoz unit of Swiss drug-maker Novartis. The landmark decision was made under a 2005 law that opens a route to market for biogenerics in Europe (see Nature 438, 154–155; 2005). In the United States, meanwhile, a federal judge ordered the US Food and Drug Administration to end four years of inaction on Sandoz's application to market Omnitrope in the United States.

Valley sunset

Sun Microsystems founder Scott McNealy, one of the best-known business leaders in California's Silicon Valley, stepped down as chief executive of the computer company, after 22 years. McNealy, known for his hard-driving management style and his endless feuding with Microsoft's Bill Gates, will remain company chairman but be replaced as chief executive by another Sun manager, Jonathan Schwartz. Sun has struggled to cope with soft demand for its Internet servers since the dot.com boom collapsed in 2001.

Vioxx scorecard

Merck suffered a setback in litigation over the painkiller Vioxx. A jury in south Texas ordered the company to pay $32 million in damages to the family of Leonel Garza, a 71-year-old man who suffered a fatal heart attack after taking the painkiller for less than a month. The New Jersey company has now lost three of six Vioxx cases to reach juries, and is facing about 11,500 more lawsuits over a drug that it withdrew in 2004, after a study linked its long-term use to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.