Lundbeck's partner Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has announced that results of the phase III ADAGIO trial were presented during the 12th Congress of European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) in Madrid, Spain. The ADAGIO study showed that Parkinson's disease patients who took Azilect® (rasagiline) 1mg tablets once-daily upon entry into the trial, demonstrated a significant improvement compared to those who initiated therapy with the drug nine months later.

Genzyme Corp. (Nasdaq: GENZ), a global leader in biotechnology, and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a not-for-profit virtual research and development (R&D) organization dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria, announced a new collaboration with India's Advinus Therapeutics Ltd.

Alpharma, Inc. (NYSE: ALO), a global specialty pharmaceutical company, confirmed that it received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: KG) to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Alpharma for $33.00 per share in cash. Alpharma said that proposal was identical in all material respects to two prior proposals made privately by King to the company.

King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: KG) announced that it has submitted to the Board of Directors of Alpharma Inc. (NYSE: ALO) a proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Alpharma for $33.00 per share in cash. The proposal is not conditioned on financing.

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the start of a Phase III study with Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets in liver cancer. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is evaluating Nexavar as an adjuvant therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or primary liver cancer.

Yesterday, the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Ms Ulla Tørnæs handed over a torch to Executive Vice President Lise Kingo, Novo Nordisk, at a ceremony in Copenhagen. With the torch Ms Tørnæs makes a Call to Action to leaders from around the world to help accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG3): To empower women and promote gender equality.

At the beginning of August, DAIICHI SANKYO DEUTSCHLAND GmbH is planning to take over most of the sales force for primary-care physicians in Germany used by Merck Pharma GmbH and to integrate them into the existing sales structure. The agreement between the German subsidiary of the third-largest Japanese pharmaceutical group and the Darmstadt-based company will affect about 130 employees.