Business & Industry News Channel
Abbott today is announcing its full-year earnings-per-share guidance for 2009 and confirming its previously issued 2008 earnings-per-share guidance of $3.31 to $3.33, excluding specified items. For 2009, the company expects earnings per share
of $3.65 to $3.70 under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and on a non-GAAP basis.
MedImmune, the global biologics unit of AstraZeneca, has submitted a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for its nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), which is now being reviewed by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). The proposed indication in the MAA is for prevention of seasonal influenza.
Bayer Schering Pharma AG and Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Japan have signed a licensing agreement for the use of novel
substances in the field of molecular imaging for cancer. Within the agreement, Bayer Schering Pharma acquires the worldwide exclusive rights for research, development and commercialization of a group of molecules that specifically bind to malignant tumor cells. In combination with positron emission tomography (PET), these tracers could potentially improve
the diagnosis of a variety of cancers.
Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany, has submitted Visanne® for the treatment of endometriosis for registration to all Member States of the European Community. The Netherlands will serve as the Reference Member State for the Decentralized Procedure to receive European-wide Marketing Authorization. 
Schering-Plough Corp., (NYSE: SGP), a leading provider of fertility treatments, announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has validated (accepted for review) its Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for corifollitropin alfa, the company's experimental, sustained follicle stimulant (SFS). This application will follow the Centralized Procedure.
Novartis has strengthened its vaccines pipeline through an exclusive agreement to license AlphaVax' investigational Cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine program. This CMV agreement adds to Novartis' promising early stage pipeline of novel vaccines, which focuses on significant unmet needs for the prevention of fatal diseases such as meningococcal infections and other hospital and community acquired infections. 
Sanofi-aventis announced today the signature of a global licensing and collaboration agreement with Novozymes for the development and marketing of a potential new antibiotic. The drug candidate is an antimicrobial peptide named plectasin NZ2114 that targets the treatment of severe infections, such as pneumonia and septicaemia, caused by bacteria like Staphylococcus and Streptococcus.