News on Novartis AG

Novartis drugs fail to help high-risk patients

2010-03-14T07:00:07Z

<div><p>ATLANTA (Reuters) - The Novartis diabetes drug Starlix failed to reduce progression to the disease or cut down on serious heart problems in patients at high risk for both diabetes and heart disease, according to a large study released on Sunday.</p><p>The ...

Tenn. federal judge won't dismiss jaw injury cases

2010-03-08T16:00:17Z

<div id="subtitle">Tenn. federal judge refuses to throw out lawsuits by patients claiming jaw damage</div><div><p>A federal judge in Nashville has refused to dismiss 40 lawsuits against a Swedish-based pharmaceutical company accused of failing to warn patients that two of its drugs can cause severe deterioration of the jaw.</p><p>U.S. District Judge Todd Cam...

Dutch government wants to sell flu vaccines back

2010-03-06T11:15:11Z

<div><p>AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government wants to sell 21 million unused H1N1 flu vaccine doses back to their manufacturers after they proved unnecessary and no other country wanted to buy them, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.</p><p>A spokeswoman for the ministry said it had approached manufacturers Nektar Therapeutics shares rise as Wall Street remains positive on product pipeline</div><div><p>Shares of biotechnology company Nektar Therapeutics Inc. jumped Wednesday as analysts brushed off the report of a fourth-quarter loss and focused instead on the company's pipeline of products.</p><p>The stock rose ...

Merck KGaA's outlook disappoints as drugs weigh

2010-02-23T01:45:05Z

<div><p>DARMSTADT, Germany (Reuters) - Merck KGaA, the world's largest maker of chemicals for flat screens, gave a cautious 2010 outlook well below market forecasts and cut its dividend reflecting uncertainty over its drugs pipeline.</p><p>The family controlled drugs-...

Novartis gets US approval for meningitis vaccine

2010-02-22T07:17:23Z

<div id="subtitle">Drugmaker Novartis says meningitis vaccine gets US approval for people between 11 and 55</div><div><p>Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said Monday that its meningitis vaccine Menveo has been approved for use in teenagers and adults by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.</p><p>Menveo is a vaccine against ...

U.S. backs Novartis vaccine, MS drug wins priority

2010-02-22T00:45:23Z

<div><p>ZURICH (Reuters) - Novartis has won U.S. approval for its key Menveo meningococcal vaccine and got priority review for its oral treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), underlining the promise of the Swiss group's pipeline.</p><p>The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) on Friday recommended a swine flu pandemic vaccine produced by French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis for European use.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"The European Medicines Agency's Reuters) - A boxed warning highlighting serious safety concerns, including reported deaths, with the use of Novartis AG's Exjade drug to remove excess iron from the blood, has been added to the medicine's label, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration<...

Lackluster cancer drug sales hit Roche profit

2010-02-22T12:24:52Z

<div><p>BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG missed full-year profit forecasts due to disappointing sales of key cancer drugs and gave a Lackluster outlook for 2010, pointing up the wider challenges facing global drugma...

Novartis says Q4 profit rises 54 pct to $2.32B

2010-02-22T14:44:48Z

<div><p>Swiss drug maker Novartis AG on Tuesday reported a 54 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit to $2.32 billion on strong sales and favorable exchange rates, and announced the appointment of Joe Jimenez as its new chief executive.</p><p>Earnings per share rose 53 percent to $1.01 from $0.66 in the same quarter of 2008, when N...

Novartis chief warns states over cancelled vaccine orders

2010-02-22T14:40:07Z

<div><p>The head of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Tuesday warned that governments now trying to cancel swine flu vaccine contracts might not be dealt with so swiftly in the next pandemic.</p><p>Chairman and chief executive Daniel Vasella said those that had been reliable partners would be favoured.</p>&...

Novartis taps Jimenez as CEO for industry challenges

2010-02-22T14:57:36Z

<div><p>BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - Novartis AG handed drugs head Joe Jimenez its top job on Tuesday with a mission to guide the Swiss drugmaker through ever-increasing competition to its key medicin...

Swiss warn on flu vaccine with autoimmune disease

2010-02-22T17:48:42Z

<div><p>ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's medical regulator recommended patients with serious autoimmune diseases should not use an H1N1 flu vaccine from Novartis, saying there were no studies assessing the innoculation in that population.</p><p>Alcon Inc. on Wednesday rejected as "grossly inadequate" a $39 billion takeover bid by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG.</p><p>The rejection by the committee — made up of three independent board members — follows a similar response from minority shareholders to Novartis' Jan. 4 anno...

Novartis to Buy Out Alcon from Nestle

2010-02-22T20:44:26Z

<div><p> By Dermot Doherty </p><p> [Bloomberg] -- Novartis AG (NVS) offered to buy the rest of Alcon Inc. (ACL), the world's largest eye-care company, from Nestle SA (NSRGY) and minority shareholders for about $39.3 billion, a...

Novartis May Raise Public Alcon Bid

2010-02-22T20:44:35Z

<div><p> By Carey Sargent </p><p> [Bloomberg] -- Novartis AG may raise its $10.4 billion bid for the publicly traded stock of Alcon Inc., the world's largest eye-care company, to appease shareholders who are getting less than the Swiss drugmaker agreed to pay U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and prices are as of 11:20 a.m. in New York. </p><p> Coal and metal producers advanced after reports showed manufacturing in the U.S. and China is improvin...

U.S. scales back H1N1 vaccine, cuts CSL order in half

2010-02-22T22:20:37Z

<div><p>SYDNEY (Reuters) - The United States has scaled back its supply of H1N1 flu vaccine, cutting its order with Australian firm CSL Ltd in half, the company said on Monday.</p><p>The U.S. move follows other nations which have also cut back swine flu vaccines as health authorities around the world grapple with overs...

Minority shareholders seek to slow Alcon takeover

2010-02-22T22:17:34Z

<div id="subtitle">Minority shareholders seek better price in Novartis' takeover of eye-care products maker Alcon</div><div><p>The minority shareholders of eye-care products maker Alcon, Inc. have filed a class-action lawsuit to prevent Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG from completing a $39 billion takeover of the company.<...