Business & Industry News Channel
Roche and Memory Pharmaceuticals today announced that the two companies have signed a definitive merger agreement for Roche to fully acquire Memory in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately USD 50 million.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has signed an exclusive Cooperation Agreement with Shenzhen Neptunus Interlong Bio-Technique Co. Ltd. (NIBT) as a preliminary step in forming a Joint Venture (JV) between the two companies. The agreement outlines the proposed terms for establishing a JV company, which will seek to co-develop seasonal influenza vaccines and pre-pandemic/pandemic influenza vaccines, firstly targeting against strains of the virus specific to China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Roche has decided for technical reasons not to continue with its office high-rise in the form originally planned. It became apparent during the project design phase that the building would not be capable of satisfying key functional requirements despite the high investment. 
AstraZeneca has announced the divestment to GlaxoSmithKline of a portfolio of over-the-counter (OTC) products predominantly sold in Sweden. The decision reinforces AstraZeneca's strategy to focus on innovation in prescription medicines.
Sandoz has received a positive opinion from European regulators for its third biosimilar medicine, filgrastim, marking another important milestone in its efforts to bring affordable high-quality biopharmaceuticals to patients worldwide.
Filgrastim is indicated for use in treating neutropenia, a condition characterized by lack of neutrophils - one of the most common types of white blood cells - that is often associated with chemotherapy or bone marrow transplants. 
GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant], the cervical cancer vaccine from Merck & Co., Inc., prevented 90 percent of external genital lesions caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16 and 18 in a pivotal Phase III study in men aged 16 to 26. 
Findings from the ATLAS ACS TIMI 46 study - a Phase II study of the novel oral anticoagulant Xarelto® (rivaroxaban) - were presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orleans by C. Michael Gibson, M.D., Director of the TIMI Data Coordinating Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.