• First-half results for continuing operations led by improving Pharmaceuticals performance ahead of expectations and expansion in Vaccines and Diagnostics
• Net sales rise 11% (+2% in local currencies) to USD 20.6 billion
• Operating income advances 12% to USD 4.9 billion on business expansion, productivity gains and currency benefits

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008.

• Diluted earnings per share, excluding specified items, were $0.84, above Abbott's previously announced guidance range of $0.78 to $0.80, reflecting 21.7 percent growth. Diluted earnings per share under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) were $0.85, up 34.9 percent.

The 2008 Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Research Award goes to Pascal Fries, MD, PhD, from the F.C. Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. At the Congress of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) taking place from 12-16 July 2008 in Geneva, on the occasion of a special lecture by the prize winner, the Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Research Award will be presented for the fourth time.

Novartis has acquired a 25% stake in Alcon Inc. (NYSE: ACL) as part of a definitive agreement with Nestlé S.A. reached in April 2008 that provides the right to acquire majority ownership of the world leader in eye care in two steps.

Pfizer announced that new statin users who took Lipitor® (atorvastatin calcium) were significantly more likely to stay on their medication compared to those who took simvastatin, according to an observational study of more than 186,000 patients in one of the largest U.S. managed care claims databases. The results were published in the July issue of Current Medical Research and Opinion.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NPC) announced it will appeal a verdict in the Montgomery County Circuit Court. Novartis disputes the State of Alabama's claims that the prices provided by NPC to reporting services resulted in overpayment to pharmacists and doctors in the Alabama State Medicaid system.

Shire Limited (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced that Maia Elfte Vermögensverwaltungs-GmbH, to be renamed "Shire Deutschland Investments GmbH", a German indirect subsidiary of Shire Limited, will launch a voluntary public takeover offer for shares in Jerini AG (FSE:JI4, ISIN: DE0006787476), the publicly listed German biotechnology company.