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Sebelius on Vaccines

7 hrs ago

Discussing whether a new $487M investment from the government will help speed up the production of the most important vaccines, with Kathy Sebelius, Health & Human Services secretary and CNBC's Mike Huckman.

The New Formula for Faster Vaccines

8 hrs ago

Novartis is opening on Tuesday the country's first plant to produce flu vaccines using cell cultures. These vaccines are faster, better and cheaper to make than egg-based methods, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Novartis Opens 1st US Plant for Flu Vaccine

15 hrs ago

Cholesterol Drug Battle: Niaspan vs. Zetia 16 Nov 2009
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. CNBC's Mike Huckman has the details.

Cardiologist Grades Cholesterol Drug Study

16 Nov 2009

Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic, shares his reaction with CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Merck's Cholesterol Drugs Under Pressure

16 Nov 2009

A new study is putting Merck's cholesterol drugs under pressure today, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman, with Ken Frazier, Merck Global Human Health president.

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Pharma's Market

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Jan.06

11:30 AM ET

Tuesday, 6 Jan 2009

What Can Brown Do For Merck?

Posted By:Mike Huckman

Topics:Medicine | Mergers & Acquisitions | Pharmaceuticals

Sectors:Insurance | Health Care Equipment and Services | Health Care | Pharmaceuticals

Companies:United Parcel Service Inc | Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc | Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. | Merck & Co Inc

CNBC.com
Only two trading days into the new year we've got our first M & A (merger and acquisition) deal of 2009. Endo Pharmaceuticals [ENDP Loading... () ] announced after the closing bell Monday that it's buying Indevus Pharmaceuticals.[IDEV Loading... () ]

IDEV is up big on heavy volume. It's not a huge deal, but some analysts think it's just the first in what could turn out to be a record year for hookups (buyouts and partnerships) in the biopharma sector.

A partnership announced by Merck this morning, though, is not what they're talking about. But I do find it kind of interesting as another example of the ever-expanding big pharma outsourcing trend. United Parcel Service [UPS Loading... () ] is taking control of two "key" Merck [MRK Loading... () ] distribution centers that handle the "majority" of the company's drugs and vaccines.

The move gives UPS a total of 3.5 million square feet around the world that's dedicated to healthcare products. Who knew? In addition, the press release says the agreement will save Merck money and, of course, it's all about cutting costs in big pharma these days. However, the companies didn't put a dollar value on the deal in the release.

Merck Files for FDA Approval of Gardasil For Males

Farewell Pharmalot
And finally, a shout out and godspeed to Ed Silverman, the Newark Star-Ledger pharma reporter-turned-blogger at www.pharmalot.com. Apparently a victim of the fast-changing media landscape, yesterday Ed posted his last entry. I will miss his take on things and the competition.

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