Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. [Headquarter: Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan, President: Akira Uehara] (hereinafter, Taisho) and Pfizer Inc. [Headquarter: New York, NY, USA, CEO: Jeffrey B. Kindler] (hereinafter, Pfizer) have concluded a letter of intent with regard to TS-032, a new schizophrenia drug candidate discovered by Taisho and currently in the pre-clinical stage. The letter of intent relates to a proposed license agreement regarding rights for development and commercialization of the substance outside Japan.

Tasigna® (nilotinib) has been approved in the US as a new anti-cancer therapy for certain patients with a life-threatening form of leukemia who are resistant or intolerant to prior treatment including Glivec® (imatinib)*, an established treatment standard and a leading Novartis medicine.

Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) today announced the results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, published in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, which demonstrated that nebivolol significantly reduced sitting diastolic and systolic blood pressure used as monotherapy among African-American patients with stage I-II hypertension.

Bayer HealthCare AG and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorization to Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or liver cancer. Nexavar, an oral anti-cancer drug, is the first and only approved systemic drug therapy for liver cancer and the only drug therapy shown to significantly improve overall survival in patients with the disease.

Nycomed today announced the entry into a definitive agreement to acquire Bradley Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on niche therapeutic markets in the USA. The acquisition will add further branded dermatologics to the PharmaDerm division of Nycomed US and will provide an enhanced platform for in-licensing and co-promotion of dermatology products. The transaction is subject to the receipt of Bradley shareholder approval and approval by competition authorities. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.

Pfizer Inc said that the Federal Patent Court in Munich, Germany has revoked the company’s patent covering atorvastatin calcium, the active ingredient in Lipitor. The patent at issue in the lawsuit (EP 409,281) expires in July 2010.

Commenting on the performance in the quarter and GSK's new Operational Excellence programme, JP Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, said: "GSK remains on track to meet its earnings guidance for the year, despite significant challenges. We continue to strengthen our product portfolio with 15 products launched, approved or filed so far this year, and we remain very focused on delivering more from our late-stage pipeline.