A sunny morning here in the nation’s medicine chest. And the end of the week is near. Two reasons to smile, yes? So no matter how much work you have, grab a cup of something stimulating and take a peek at the latest items. While you catch up, we will be busy scouring the universe for still more interesting developments. Hope your day goes well…

Bristol-Myers Squibb Abilify antipsychotic was approved by the FDA to treat bipolar disorder in children as young as 10, Bloomberg News writes. The drug is already marketed for adults with bipolar disorder and major depression, and for schizophrenia in people 13 and older. The drug carries a Black Box warning for suicide (see release). The approval is the latest by the FDA to make antipsychotics available to youngsters. Last year, Risperdal was approved for children as young as 10.

Wyeth ended its partnership with Solvay for the bifeprunox schizophrenia drug and other compounds for psychiatric conditions in various stages of development. The move comes after the FDA last year decided the med wasn’t ‘approvable.’ Solvay subsequently said it believed it would have to carry out a new trial that would probably take two years, Reuters writes.

A major shareholder is urging Endo Pharmaceutical to evaluate a potential sale of the company before hiring a new chief executive to replace Peter Lankau, who will step down on March 1, the Associated Press reports. D.E. Shaw & Co. and its affiliates reported owning 13.2 million Endo shares, representing a 9.8 percent stake.

Pfizer will fight a decision by a court in the Netherlands that ruled a Lipitor patent is invalid. The drugmaker is locked in an ongoing global battle with Indian generics maker Ranbaxy over the intellectual property surrounding Lipitor, but stressed the most recent victory with this particular patent, which expires in July 2010, actually has no commercial impact because the basic patent protecting the pill remains intact until November 2011, PharmaTimes reports.

RNA interference, a hot area of drug research that tries to “silence” problematic genes, recorded what appears to be the first significant demonstration of an effect in people, The Wall Street Journal reports. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals says it achieved successful results in a human trial of an RNA-interference drug for respiratory syncytial virus, which infects breathing passages and mostly strikes infants. The virus causes over 75,000 hospitalizations a year in the US, and about 17,000 deaths among the elderly, who are particularly vulnerable. No treatment has proved successful.