Novartis buying up Alcon – Novartis AG has agreed to buy Nestle AG’s 77 percent stake in U.S. company Alcon for $39 billion to boost its eye care business, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday…more
Schering: the next cut is the deepest – Faced with a crushing blow to its top selling cholesterol medicine, Schering-Plough tonight announced layoffs, plant closings and spending cuts to save $1 billion over the next two years. “No area will be exempt,” Fred Hassan, Schering-Plough’s chairman and CEO, said in a news release…more
Lots of juicy stuff from ACC (American College of Cardiology) this week:
Micardis cuts heart risk – The blood pressure drug Micardis was as effective in preventing serious heart problems in high-risk patients as certain older drugs, but with fewer side effects, international researchers said on Monday. The Boehringer Ingelheim drug Micardis, or telmisartan, is typically used in patients with heart failure, but the study found it worked as well as the ACE inhibitor ramipril, marketed in the United States as Altace by King Pharmaceuticals Inc…more
Diabetes drug Actos arresting heart disease? – The popular diabetes pill Actos prevented the build-up of fatty deposits in heart arteries in a study of patients with type 2 diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They said the Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd drug Actos, known generically as pioglitazone, is the first diabetes therapy shown to reduce the progression of atherosclerosis…more, and more.
Novartis’ Lotrel very effective at cutting heart risks – Lotrel, a pill combining two blood pressure drugs in one, was so effective at preventing heart attacks and other problems in a clinical trial that the study was stopped early, and its findings may change the way hypertension is treated, U.S. researchers said on Monday…more
Merck’s experimental weight loss drug: effective, some side effects – Obese patients treated with a low dose of Merck & Co Inc’s experimental drug taranabant lost a significant amount of weight, but there were side effects, according to interim results from a pivotal trial released by the company on Monday…more
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