Japan drug makers are getting a new research-and-development source in the form of trading company Mitsui & Co., which has established a $459 million investment fund, which it would seed with $100 million.

Suits filed by non-practicing entities, or “patent trolls,” against non-tech companies – including personal-care firms – have roughly doubled over the past five years, Hogan Lovells patent attorney Celine Crowson tells “The Rose Sheet.” Industry and legislators are looking to combat such suits, which accounted for 56% of all patent litigation filed in 2012.

China is on its way to becoming a global force in life-sciences innovation, fulfilling a forecast two years ago by Dennis Gillings, founder of Quintiles, a U.S.-based contract research organization.

Leading dispensing pharmacy Qol announced Oct. 15 it has acquired shares of Apoplus Station, a company specializing in pharmacist recruitment and the CSO industry.