Health & Medical News
Drug Giant AstraZeneca to Slash 1,600 jobs
AstraZeneca PLC, the global pharmaceutical giant and the UK’s second biggest drug company, informed that it planned to restructure itself by introducing downsizing program and reorganizing its global research and development operations. The main idea of the strategy, which is to substantially help the company, is to slash approximately 1,600 jobs in the next three years.
Valeant to acquire Medicis Pharmaceutical in $2.6 billion deal
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. informed that it would acquire buy Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. for $2.6 billion in cash. The deal will add Botox competitor Dysport and other skin care drugs to the company’s portfolio. Valeant, the largest publicly traded drug maker in Canada, intends to expand its dermatological products. In addition, the acquisition of Medicis is a part of the Valeant’s acquisition strategy which slipped on last year’s bid for Cephalon Inc.
Drug Shortages 2011: Can the Global Market Fix This?
Many reasons have been cited for these 2011 drug shortages. A recent study from the IMS Institute found that health manufacturing problems, discontinuations and suspension of production, inability to meet demand, raw material problems, and contamination or other quality issues are particularly relevant. Business decisions by manufacturers and industry leaders, often involving profitability, also play a key role in shortages, and this issue extends beyond the low return on investment of generics.
RISUG. The Single dose, Safe, Reversible Contraceptive Method for Men
Bye-bye Vasectomies (and if women can have it their way, bye-bye oral contraceptive pills too) ! This wonder drug, which has been developed at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India, promises to be a much safer, easier and reversible contraceptive method for men, and has garnered widespread global interest. As opposed to a vasectomy, [...]
Fluorescent Protein to Revolutionize the Process of In Vivo Imaging
In what could possibly be a breakthrough in the process of whole-body imaging, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed the first fluorescent protein, which has been dubbed iRFP, that enables scientists to clearly “see” the internal organs of living animals without the need for a scalpel or imaging [...]
Lethal E. Coli infecting 1600 across Europe deemed mutant super-bug
With a never-before seen strain of E. Coli having reportedly affected 1600 people across Europe, scientists are calling the new bug super-toxic. And while primary suspicion for transmission of this bug has been laid on raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, experts have been unable to identify for sure the source of the E. coli, which [...]
British American Tobacco’s new tobacco-free nicotine: Nicoventures
British American Tobacco (BAT), estimated to be the world’s second largest tobacco group by global market share, has confirmed reports of having established Nicoventures Limited, a start-up company that aims to commercialize sans-tobacco nicotine products which could help wean smokers off its cigarettes. A bold move you think ? Sure – in terms of creating [...]
