07.05.2012
Swiss drugmaker Roche has ended efforts to develop a heart disease drug which some industry analysts had estimated could have achieved $10 billion in annual sales, after poor results from a late-stage trial.
more23.04.2012
AstraZeneca has agreed to buy U.S. company Ardea Biosciences for $1.26 billion, giving it a new gout drug to bolster its weak pipeline in a deal that feeds a wave of M&A in the biotechnology sector.
The $32-a-share acquisition is worth $1 billion after deducting the existing cash held by Ardea, the companies said on Monday.
more20.04.2012
Roche dropped its bid to buy the gene-sequencing leader Illumina this week after Illumina's shareholders made it clear at the company's annual meeting that the terms were inadequate.
more12.04.2012
Swiss drugmaker Roche dangled the prospect of a higher offer before reluctant U.S. bid target Illumina on Thursday along with broadly flat first-quarter sales supported by its top-selling cancer drugs.
more05.04.2012
A new batch of counterfeit cancer drug Avastin discovered in the United States was bought in Turkey and shipped through Britain by a UK-based business, officials said on Wednesday, revealing a shipment pattern very similar to an earlier episode.
The first discovery of fake supplies of the Roche drug shipped into the United States from the Middle East via Europe hit the headlines in February, although the middlemen involved this time are different.
more05.04.2012
A raft of new medicines pushed U.S. spending on drugs modestly higher last year, but the gains were curbed by weak prescription use as Americans avoided doctor visits, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Overall U.S. spending on medicines reached $320 billion in 2011, up 3.7% from 2010, according to the report from IMS Health, a healthcare information and services company. The increase was just 0.5% on a per capita basis.
more04.04.2012
Roche stepped up pressure on Illumina shareholders in its battle to take over the U.S. gene sequencing company, telling them in a letter that its increased $6.7 billion bid represented concrete value in a high-risk market.
more02.04.2012
In a nondescript suburb south of London, tucked away behind a big hospital, Paul Workman and fellow scientists are celebrating victory in the "World Cup" of cancer drug research for their work in discovering a stream of new medicines.
But the win is bitter-sweet. One of the new drugs behind the coveted prize from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has been deemed too costly to use in state-run British hospitals like the one next door.
It is a stark example of the pricing crisis now facing cancer medicines across the globe.
more27.03.2012
Illumina, a gene-mapping company facing a $5.7 billion hostile takeover bid by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding, was sued by Columbia University on Monday for allegedly infringing five patents related to DNA sequencing.
more26.03.2012
Roche extended its $5.7 billion cash bid for U.S. gene decoder Illumina for a second time as the Swiss drugmaker sticks to its tried and tested M&A strategy of playing a long game.
Roche is offering $44.50 per share for Illumina, but analysts expect the company ultimately to raise its offer for the San Diego-based group.
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