Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca plans 1,400 job cuts and is closing three plants around Europe as it joins others in the sector tackling increased competition and cost pressures.

Elan Corp plc, the Dublin-based drug company, has appointed Carlos V Paya as President, effective November 25.

Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca saw shares plummet 11 percent on Wednesday after it said its full-year earnings per share (EPS) would be at the lower end of its previously stated range.

Dublin-based United Drug plc has acquired the entire issued share capital of The Specials Laboratory Holdings Ltd (TSL) for a consideration of £20.1 million.

Drugmaker Merck KGaA, which markets Genentech’s psoriasis drug Raptiva, has said it is working with European Union regulators following the death of a second patient.

Consumer goods giant Unilever dealt a blow to drugs-from-plants firm Phytopharm on Friday by abandoning plans to develop its Hoodia product as a functional food to help people lose weight.

Pfizer Inc, the world’s largest drug company has announced plans to spend up to US$60 million (£41 million) on a research centre in Cambridge.

Roche Holding AG has stated that its drug Avastin extended the lives of patients with one of the most common types of lung cancer by four months.

GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's largest drugmaker, has increased its stake in Addex Pharmaceuticals to five percent, the biotechnology firm said on Wednesday, November 12.

GlaxoSmithKline , the world's second biggest drugmaker, said on Tuesday it planned to close its Dartford manufacturing site in south-east England by 2013 with the loss of 620 jobs.

Swiss dental implant maker Nobel Biocare said this morning, November 11, it is buying privately-owned prosthetics software design company BioCad for €26 million.

A large-scale study of AstraZeneca plc's anti-cholesterol drug, Crestor, has been shown to cut heart-attack risk even for people without high cholesterol, the drugmaker said.

Swiss drugmaker Roche said today, November 7, a Phase III study has confirmed that its drug Tarceva delays the advance of lung cancer when given immediately after chemotherapy.

Europe's biggest medical device company Smith & Nephew posted third-quarter earnings short of analyst forecasts on Thursday and suspended share buybacks, sending its stock sharply lower.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis announced yesterday, November 5, it would discontinue all clinical trials involving its troubled anti-obesity pill Acomplia.

GlaxoSmithKline , the world's second-biggest drugmaker, is cutting approximately 1,000 U.S. sales jobs by the end of 2008 as it reorganises the operation to compete in an increasingly tough market.

John Patterson, AstraZeneca plc's head of drug development, will retire from the company next March.

Swiss dental implant maker Nobel Biocare posted a lower-than-expected net profit in the third quarter as customers cut back on expensive dental treatments.

Senior creditors of Four Seasons Healthcare have extended a “standstill” deal over the care home group’s debt, giving them until January 22 to agree a restructuring of its £1.5 billion debt load.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca suspended share buybacks on Thursday to give more scope for acquisitions as third-quarter forecasts beat expectations and earnings forecasts for the full year were increased.

Health insurer Cigna Corp posted a 53 percent decline in third-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by losses stemming from the market volatility, and said it expected to post a fourth-quarter loss related to its death benefits business.

Shares in Elan Corp dropped 28 percent in New York after the Irish drugmaker reported a third case of the brain disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in a patient taking its multiple scelroris drug Tysabri.

Drugmaker Novartis AG said, October 29, Swiss authorities have approved its blood pressure treatment Rasilez HCT.

Anglia Healthcare Systems Ltd have said it has been acquired by Tuscan-based Sunquest Information Systems Inc.

The credit crunch could seriously delay the discovery and production of many new medicines, a British expert warned on Monday, October 27.

European authorities said on Thursday, October 23, Sanofi-Aventis's anti-obesity drug Acomplia should be withdrawn from the market because of side effects including suicide and depression.

Czech privately owned PPF Group NV raised its voting rights stake in Zentiva to 24.26 percent, a filing with a Dutch regulator AFM showed on Thursday, October 23.

GlaxoSmithKline's earnings beat analyst forecasts on Wednesday, helped by a weak pound, and the world's second biggest drugmaker said it was hunting for acquisition bargains thrown up by the credit crunch.

The British biotechnology company Apitope has said that it is to shift its headquarters to Belgium after its failure to find a UK investor.

Swiss biotech company Actelion Ltd reported a 26 percent jump in third quarter net profit, boosted by strong sales of key drug Tracleer.

Novartis AG said today, October 20, its net profit rose to US$2.08 billion, helped by strong sales of its top-selling blood pressure drug Diovan.

Bayer AG said it has won European approval for its contraceptive pill Qlaira, which the chemical and pharmaceutical maker expects to generate sales of up to €500 million per year.

GlaxoSmithKline plc will acquire the Egyptian mature products business of Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) for US$210 (£125) million, in a move to further extend its pharmaceutical portfolio in emerging markets.

GlaxoSmithKline is buying the Egyptian mature products business of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co for $210 million (120 million pounds), to extend the drug company's recent expansion into emerging markets.

Bayer AG said on Wednesday, October 15, it planned to delist its shares from the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) because the trading volumes there no longer justified the costs.

SSL International plc posted first half sales of over £320 million as business continued to show encouraging signs.

Abbott Laboratories said its board had authorized a new program to repurchase up to US$5 billion of the company's common stock.

Shares in Boston Scientific Corp dropped to a 52-week low on Friday, October 10, triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the large scale share sell-off by its founders.

Acino Holding AG sees total potential sales for its generic version of Sanofi-Aventis SA's Plavix at €500 million, its Chairman said in an interview published today, October 13.

Nobel Biocare Holding AG had a record fall in Swiss trading after third-quarter revenue declined and the company said it may not be able to meet its full-year guidance.

Southern Cross said today, October 10, it sees its full-year adjusted EBITDA in line with its previous guidance.

Oxford BioMedica plc said today, October 7, that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved a series of amendments to the PHASE III TRIST study of its lead drug TroVax in renal cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has recommended Roche’s Tarceva for use on the National Health Service after the Swiss drugmaker agreed to cut the price of the lung cancer drug.

United Drug plc said it will meet its targets of a double-digit increase in operating profit and earnings for the year ending September 30.

Zentiva NV have said its board unanimously recommended that shareholders accept an all-cash bid of CZK1,150 per share by French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA.

GlaxoSmithKline plc is planning to cut up to 850 research and development jobs in Britain and the United States, in a bid to improve productivity.

In a trading update today, September 29, care services provider Claimar Care Group plc said it sees normalised full-year pretax profit at the lower end of market expectations.

MDY Healthcare plc said this morning, September 29, that it is less likely to invest in smaller companies after its smallcap portfolio disappointed.

Ascribe plc has acquired WCI Healthcare for £650,000, with a further £300,000 deferred consideration to be paid in 12 months subject to performance.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA is set to complete the acquisition of Acambis plc today, September 25, the Financial Times has reported.

Sanofi-Aventis SA, France's largest drugmaker, was yesterday, September 23, downgraded to “underperform” from “neutral” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

Europe’s largest adult stem cell storage bank, Cryo-Save Group plc, warned Tuesday, September 23, that its full-year results will fall below its previous expectations.

Sanofi-Aventis said on Monday, September 22, that Zentiva had accepted a higher takeover offer that valued the Czech generics drugmaker at around €1.8 billion.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA has received permission to extend its CZK30 billion bid for Czech generic-drug maker Zentiva NV.

BTG has agreed to buy Protherics for around £218.1 million in an all share deal, the companies said this morning, September 18.

Andre Hoffmann, Vice-President of Roche Holdings AG, is investing US$175 million in US healthcare data analysis company MedAssurant, raising his stake to 15 percent.

Gérard Le Fur, the Chief Executive ousted from Sanofi-Aventis last week, could receive up to €8 million from the French pharmaceutical group before he stands down in December.

NHS staff supplier Nestor Healthcare Group plc has sold its Carewatch unit to a newly incorporated company controlled by private equity partnership Lyceum Capital.

AstraZeneca plc has entered into a licensing and collaboration agreement with SBI Biotech Co Ltd, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings Inc, to develop and commercialise the company’s anti-ILT7 protein.