Chemical Business Newsbase articles from February 2010, page 8

Chemical Business Newsbase archives from February 2010

Cargill sells interest in PNG oil palm plantations.
February 24, 2010... On 24 Feb 2010, CTP Holdings, a Cargill majority owned company, announced that it has signed a sales agreement to sell its interest in oil palm plantations it owned and operated in Papua New Guinea to New Britain Palm Oil. The sale price for the...

Eisai launches Revovir in the Philippines for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.
February 24, 2010... On 24 Feb 2010, Eisai Co Ltd announced that the company's Philippine subsidiary, HI-Eisai Pharmaceutical Inc has launched "Revovir 30mg Capsules" (generic name: clevudine) in the Philippines for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Revovir is a...

Packaging production down in 2009, industry optimistic for 2010: Brazil.
February 24, 2010... Output of Brazil's packaging sector in 2009 declined by 3.79% year on year due to a slowdown in demand linked to the global economic crisis, says IBRE-FGV, the economics institute of Brazilian think tank Fundacao Getulio Vargas. Industry...

PolyOne adds medical polymers from BASF.
February 24, 2010... PolyOne Distribution has been tapped to distribute BASF Corp's advanced polymers for the healthcare market. The agreement covers the Ultrason materials based on polysulfone, polyethersulfone or polyphenylsulfone. The products are suited for use...

Profit surges at Titan Chemicals: 2009.
February 24, 2010... Titan Chemicals Corp posted after-tax profit of Ringgit 537.8 M ($158 M) in 2009, a significant improvement from a loss of Ringgit 270.3 M ($79.4 M) in 2008. Sales were down 20% to Ringgit 5.61 bn ($1.65 bn) from Ringgit 7 bn ($2.06 bn). In...

Ohio's Myers posts small 4Q 2009 profit.
February 24, 2010... Diversified polymer products firm Myers Industries reported a profit of $941,000 in 4Q 2009, with sales up 5%, compared with a loss of $59.1 M in 4Q 2008. For full-year 2009, the company logged net sales of $701.8 M, down 14% from $813.5 M in...

Pactiv buying PWP for $200 M.
February 24, 2010... Thermoformer Pactiv Corp is acquiring PWP Industries of Vernon, CA, USA, a rival in the production of amorphous PET (APET) for food-service packaging, in a $200 M deal. PWP operates APET factories in Vernon; Abilene, TX, USA; and Mineral Wells,...

Innovative materials open door to medical markets.
February 24, 2010... Materials companies have unveiled new offerings at the 2010 Medical Design & Manufacturing West show that are targeted to help device makers and hospitals reduce costs and risks while at the same time improve their environmental footprint....

Portuguese regulator to investigate acquisitions of Cimpor stakes: Brazil.
February 24, 2010... Portuguese securities regulatory CMVM will reportedly launch a probe to find out if Brazilian companies Votorantim and Camargo Correa conspired in acquiring interests in Cimpor, a cement producer based in Portugal. The deals may have been...

Cananea workers pushing for boycott of Grupo Mexico copper: Mexico.
February 24, 2010... Representatives for Grupo Mexico's unionized workers at Cananea copper mine in northern Mexico's Sonora state asked Bolivian President Evo Morales to block copper produced by the company during a meeting. The same appeal is being made by workers...

Mineros posts $59.3 M profit in 2009: Colombia.
February 24, 2010... Colombian gold producer Mineros reported a profit of Colombian Peso 115 bn ($59.3 M) in 2009. A profit sharing plan that entails the distribution of Peso 25.1 bn in dividends will be proposed by the company during a general assembly of...

Bachelet confirms extension of operations at Codelco's Salvador: report: Chile.
February 24, 2010... A local paper reported that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has confirmed that the Salvador division of state copper producer Codelco will be in operations for 10 more years through 2021, thanks to increased copper prices and the workers'...

SQM halts two operations due to decreased iodine, nitrates demand: Chile.
February 24, 2010... Reduced global demand for iodine and nitrates has forced Chilean non-metallic miner SQM to close its El Toco and Pampa Blanca mining facilities. The closing will cut iodine output in 2010 by 20% versus the 2009 levels but should be similar to...

Argonaut Gold completes Castle Gold acquisition: Guatemala, Mexico.
February 24, 2010... Canadian miner Castle Gold is now a wholly owned subsidiary of compatriot Argonaut Gold Inc following the completion of Argonaut's compulsory acquisition of all outstanding shares of Castle not purchased as part of its roughly C$112 m ($106 M)...

Analysis: ethanol industry could see new wave of consolidation: Brazil.
February 24, 2010... A new wave of consolidation could occur in Brazil's ethanol industry with producers and distributors both seeking to expand their operations. In early Feb 2010, Brazilian ethanol major Cosan and Anglo-Dutch energy group Shell unveiled a $12 bn...

Construction at Reficar expansion to begin mid-2010: Colombia.
February 24, 2010... US energy EPC company CB&I will commence construction activities for the expansion of Refineria de Cartagena (Reficar) in Colombia in mid-2010. The company secured the $1.4 bn contract to provide engineering, procurement services and...

Rio Grande liquids plant tender attracts 12 firms: Bolivia.
February 24, 2010... The information meeting for the bidding process to conduct a conceptual engineering study for the planned Rio Grande natural gas liquids separation facility in Bolivia's Santa Cruz department attracted 12 companies, namely Aesa, Bolpegas, Conta...

Private oil firms to invest $418 M in 2010: ministry: Ecuador.
February 24, 2010... Ecuador's non-renewable natural resources ministry reported that investments from private oil producers in the country will total $418 M in 2010, up from $212 M in 2009 and $162 M in 2008. The capital outlay includes $129 M from Repsol YPF; $105...

Acucar Guarani acquires stake in sugar, ethanol mill: Brazil.
February 24, 2010... Grupo Humus has sold a 50% interest in the Usina Vertente mill to Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Acucar Guarani for R$105 M ($57.5 M). The remaining 50% interest will be retained by Humus. The mill, situated in the southern state of Sao...

LifeScan recalls specific lots of consumer and professional onetouch surestep test strips due to inaccurate readings at high levels.
February 24, 2010... LifeScan, Inc is conducting a voluntary recall in the US of eight lots of OneTouch SureStep Test Strips, used by people with diabetes to measure their blood glucose levels at home. The test strips are being recalled because they may provide...

Huntsman to increase speciality amine prices in the NAFTA region.
February 24, 2010... Huntsman Corp, announced that its Performance Products division will increase off-list prices in the NAFTA region for the amine products listed, by $0.05/lb. The increase will be effective 15 Mar 2010, or as applicable contracts allow. The amine...

Huntsman to Increase Polyetheramines Prices in the NAFTA Region.
February 24, 2010... Huntsman Corp, announced that its Performance Products division will increase list and off-list prices in the NAFTA region for all grades of the polyetheramine products, by $0.10/lb. The increase will be effective from 15 Mar 2010, or as...

GlaxoSmithKline responds to US Senate Committee on finance report on Avandia.
February 24, 2010... GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) responded to the recently released Senate Committee on Finance's Jan 2010 'Staff Report on GlaxoSmithKline and the Diabetes Drug Avandia' (Staff Report) by releasing a White Paper. In its response, GSK states that the Staff...

US Studies Centre announces Dow Sustainability Program.
February 24, 2010... The United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney has announced the launch of a three-year research program on sustainability made possible by support from The Dow Chemical Co Foundation in the US. The Dow Sustainability Program will...

Dow Chairman and CEO celebrates expansion of historic partnership in Kuwait.
February 24, 2010... The Dow Chemical Co recently commemorated its historic partnership with Petrochemical Industries Company KSC (PIC) of Kuwait at the inauguration of the Greater Equate facility, an expansion of Dow and PIC's successful 15-year joint venture,...

Valvoline and Cummins Filtration form alliance to market Air Shield Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF).
February 24, 2010... Ashland Consumer Markets (Valvoline) and Cummins Filtration announced on 24 Feb 2010 a new alliance to package, market and distribute Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) in North America. Diesel Exhaust Fluid is required for Selective Catalytic Reduction...

Blue Water Agronomy to carry Ashland's bluAgro fertilizer products.
February 24, 2010... Fertilizer produced by Ashland Hercules Water Technologies, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc, is available exclusively through Blue Water Agronomy. Fertilizer blenders and formulators will find the product available in chip, granular and powder...

Rhodia: 4Q and FY 2008 results: Summary income statement.
February 24, 2010... For its 4Q 2009, Rhodia SA has reported net sales of EUR 1083 M (EUR 1126 M for its 4Q 2008), recurring EBITDA of EUR 200 M (EUR 141 M), operating profit of EUR 109 M (EUR 14 M), net profit of EUR 28 M (net loss of EUR 28 M), and basic EPS of...

Rhodia: 4Q and FY 2008 results: Polyamide.
February 24, 2010... For its 4Q 2009, the Polyamide business unit of Rhodia SA has reported net sales of EUR 446 M (EUR 353 M for its 4Q 2008) and recurring EBITDA of EUR 69 M (EUR -8 M). For its fiscal 2009, this business unit has reported net sales of EUR 1476 M...

Rhodia: 4Q and FY 2008 results: Novecare.
February 24, 2010... For its 4Q 2009, the Novecare business unit of Rhodia SA has reported net sales of EUR 203 M (EUR 236 M for its 4Q 2008) and recurring EBITDA of EUR 27 M (EUR 26 M). For its fiscal 2009, this business unit has reported net sales of EUR 827 M...

Rhodia: 4Q and FY 2008 results: Silcea.
February 24, 2010... For its 4Q 2009, the Silcea business unit of Rhodia SA has reported net sales of EUR 177 M (EUR 169 M for its 4Q 2008) and recurring EBITDA of EUR 35 M (EUR 14 M). For its fiscal 2009, this business unit has reported net sales of EUR 635 M (EUR...

Rhodia: 4Q and FY 2008 results: Energy Services.
February 24, 2010... For its 4Q 2009, the Energy Services business unit of Rhodia SA has reported net sales of EUR 51 M (EUR 86 M for its 4Q 2008) and recurring EBITDA of EUR 46 M (EUR 87 M). For its fiscal 2009, this business unit has reported net sales of EUR 189...

Rhodia: 4Q and FY 2008 results: Acetow.
February 24, 2010... For its 4Q 2009, the Acetow business unit of Rhodia SA has reported net sales of EUR 136 M (EUR 129 M for its 4Q 2008) and recurring EBITDA of EUR 31 M (EUR 27 M). For its fiscal 2009, this business unit has reported net sales of EUR 549 M (EUR...

Rhodia: 4Q and FY 2008 results: Eco Services.
February 24, 2010... For its 4Q 2009, the Eco Services business unit of Rhodia SA has reported net sales of EUR 41 M (EUR 89 M for its 4Q 2008) and recurring EBITDA of EUR 10 M (EUR 20 M). For its fiscal 2009, this business unit has reported net sales of EUR 211 M...

Kemira annual report 2009: Key figures.
February 24, 2010... For its fiscal 2009, Kemira Oyj has reported revenue of EUR 2500.1 M (EUR 2832.7 M for its fiscal 2008), operating profit of EUR 157.4 M (EUR 74.0 M), net profit of EUR 85.5 M (EUR 1.8 M), basic EPS of EUR 0.61 (EUR -0.01), capital expenditure...

Kemira annual report 2009: Research & Development.
February 24, 2010... For its fiscal 2009, Kemira Oyj has reported R&D expenditure of EUR 47.0 M (EUR 71.1 M for its fiscal 2008). There is extensive discussion of the company's R&D activities in fiscal 2009, covering: overview, H2S-Guard, Desfinix, Lumikem,...

Kemira annual report 2009: Paper Segment.
February 24, 2010... For its fiscal 2009, the Paper segment of Kemira Oyj has reported revenue of EUR 906.4 M (EUR 1003.3 M for its fiscal 2008), EBITDA of EUR 87.0 M (EUR 69.4 M), operating profit of EUR 40.1 M (operating loss of EUR 2.6 M), and capital expenditure...

Kemira annual report 2009: Municipal & Industrial Segment.
February 24, 2010... For its fiscal 2009, the Municipal & Industrial segment of Kemira Oyj has reported revenue of EUR 607.5 M (EUR 583.7 M for its fiscal 2008), EBITDA of EUR 91.7 M (EUR 41.0 M), operating profit of EUR 59.8 M (EUR 5.3 M), and capital...

Kemira annual report 2009: Oil & Mining Segment.
February 24, 2010... For its fiscal 2009, the Oil & Mining segment of Kemira Oyj has reported revenue of EUR 235.0 M (EUR 275.4 M for its fiscal 2008), EBITDA of EUR 23.6 M (EUR 15.3 M), operating profit of EUR 19.9 M (EUR 1.9 M), and capital expenditure of EUR...

Kemira annual report 2009: Tikkurila.
February 24, 2010... For its fiscal 2009, the Tikkurila segment of Kemira Oyj has reported revenue of EUR 530.2 M (EUR 648.1 M for its fiscal 2008), EBITDA of EUR 66.5 M (EUR 78.2 M), operating profit of EUR 47.7 M (EUR 59.2 M), and capital expenditure of EUR 13.5 M...

Difenzoquat; product cancellation order for certain pesticide registrations.
February 24, 2010... This notice, issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announces the agency's order for the cancellation, voluntarily requested by the registrant and accepted by the agency, of products containing the pesticide difenzoquat,...

Maneb; product cancellation order of a certain pesticide registration.
February 24, 2010... This notice, issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency, announces the agency's order for the cancellation, voluntarily requested by the registrant and accepted by the agency, of a product containing the pesticide maneb, pursuant to...

Product cancellation order for certain pesticide registrations (Hyponex and others).
February 24, 2010... This notice, issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announces the agency's order for the cancellations, voluntarily requested by the registrants and accepted by the agency, of products containing several pesticides, pursuant to...

Laminarin; exemption from the requirement of a tolerance.
February 24, 2010... This regulation, issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of laminarin in or on all food commodities when applied preharvest as a biochemical pesticide to...

Enzon opens paediatric study of PEG-SN38.
February 24, 2010... Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc announced that the first patient has been treated in the Phase I study of PEG-SN38 for paediatric cancer patients. PEG-SN38 or EZN-2208 is Enzon's PEGylated form of SN38, the active metabolite of the cancer drug...

QR Pharma receives US Patent 7,625,942 to treat Down Syndrome.
February 24, 2010... QR Pharma Inc was issued US Patent No 7,625,942, a 'Method of Treating Down Syndrome' by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The '942 patent covers use of Posiphen and analogs to treat cognitive impairments associated with Down Syndrome (DS)....

New study demonstrates effectiveness of Prochymal as a rescue therapy for paediatric patients with severe graft vs host disease.
February 24, 2010... Osiris Therapeutics Inc reported that a new study shows Prochymal achieved an overall response rate of 63% when used as a rescue therapy in children suffering from severe treatment resistant graft vs host disease (GvHD). Furthermore, the study...

OCP and Innophos jointly announce settlement of phosphate rock arbitration.
February 24, 2010... OCP SA and Innophos Holdings Inc (Innophos) jointly announced that Innophos' Mexican subsidiaries, or collectively Innophos Mexico, and their phosphate rock supplier, OCP, had reached agreements fully settling the previously announced commercial...

DuPont Titanium Technologies announces a price increase for Ti-Pure titanium dioxide products in North America.
February 24, 2010... DuPont Titanium Technologies announced a price increase for all DuPont Ti-Pure titanium dioxide (TiO2) grades sold in North America. Effective 1 Apr 2010, or as permitted by contract, prices in North America (US and Canada) will increase by 5...

DuPont expects strong 2010 performance polymers sales growth, margin expansion.
February 24, 2010... At the DuPont Investors' Business Review Series teleconference on 24 Feb 2010, Diane H Gulyas, president - DuPont Performance Polymers, highlighted plans to grow the business' sales greater than 12% in 2010 while increasing the pre-tax operating...

Yingli Green Energy announces three-year framework agreement to supply 285 MW of PV modules to Gehrlicher Solar AG.
February 24, 2010... Yingli Green Energy Holding Co Ltd (Yingli Green Energy) has signed a three-year framework agreement with Gehrlicher Solar AG, one of the leading PV system integrators in Europe. Under the terms of this agreement, Yingli Green Energy has agreed...

NewPage Corp issues $70 M 11.375% Senior Secured Notes.
February 24, 2010... NewPage Corp announced the issuance of an additional $70 M in aggregate principal amount of 11.375% Senior Secured Notes due 2014 (the Notes) in a private placement. These additional notes have substantially the same terms as the existing $1.7...

ANA598 demonstrates 73% cEVR in combination with interferon and ribavirin. [1 table in original article].
February 24, 2010... Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc (Anadys) announced preliminary results from an ongoing Phase II study demonstrating that 73% of hepatitis C patients treated with 200 mg ANA598 twice daily in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin (SOC)...

FDA approves pneumococcal disease vaccine with broader protection.
February 24, 2010... The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Prevnar 13, a pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine for infants and young children ages 6 weeks through 5 years. Prevnar 13 will be the successor to Prevnar, the pneumococcal 7-valent...

Appeal of lawsuit by former officer dismissed; request for sanctions granted.
February 24, 2010... GeneLink Inc reported that the Superior Court of Pennsylvania has dismissed the appeal filed by the company's former CEO and President, John DePhillipo, and his wife against the company, its subsidiary GeneWize Life Sciences Inc, and several of...

Harbor BioSciences to receive patent for Apoptone cancer treatment.
February 24, 2010... Harbor BioSciences Inc has received a notice of allowance from the US Patent Office of patent claims covering the use of its lead product candidate Apoptone. The patent claims cover the use of Apoptone to treat prostate cancer, breast cancer and...

Arena Pharmaceuticals announces FDA acceptance of lorcaserin NDA for filing.
February 24, 2010... Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc announced that its New Drug Application (NDA) for lorcaserin, Arena Pharmaceuticals' internally discovered and developed drug candidate for weight management, including weight loss and maintenance of weight loss, has...

Pregis announces extension of exchange offer.
February 24, 2010... Pregis Corp announced the extension of its offer to exchange up to EUR 125 M of its Second Priority Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due 2013 issued in a private placement on 5 Oct 2009 for an equal principal amount of Second Priority Senior...

Data show Valortim anthrax anti-toxin may augment immune system's ability to destroy anthrax bacteria.
February 24, 2010... PharmAthene Inc announced that new data from the company's Valortim anthrax anti-toxin programme were presented at the 8th Annual ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, 21-24 Feb 2010. Valortim is a fully...

In 2018, Sanofi-Aventis's BSI-201 will garner sales of $1.7 bn in the triple negative breast cancer drug market.
February 24, 2010... Decision Resources finds that, in 2018, Sanofi-Aventis's BSI-201 will garner sales of $1.7 bn in the triple negative breast cancer drug market in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan. Owing to the improvement in overall...

Nutrition 21 announces Canadian approval of chromium picolinate for use in natural health products.
February 24, 2010... Nutrition 21 Inc announced that chromium picolinate has been officially approved for sale in Canada as a natural health product by Health Canada, the Canadian federal agency devoted to maintaining and improving the health of the nation's...

Transgenomic licenses IP from IntegraGen to develop genetic test for autism.
February 24, 2010... Transgenomic Inc has licensed on an exclusive US basis intellectual property from IntegraGen SA that will enable Transgenomic to develop and commercialize a genetic test designed to assess the risk of autism in children who have older siblings...

Shire provides update on Biologics Licence Application (BLA) filing for Replagal (agalsidase alfa) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
February 24, 2010... Shire plc has received Fast Track designation from the FDA for Replagal (agalsidase alfa), its enzyme replacement therapy for Fabry disease. Shire filed a BLA for Replagal in Dec 2009. The FDA requested additional human pharmacokinetic data to...

Merck & Co Inc's, GARDASIL approved by health canada for males to prevent genital warts.
February 24, 2010... Merck announced that Health Canada has approved GARDASIL (Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, and 18) Recombinant Vaccine) for boys and men nine through 26 years of age for the prevention of infection caused by HPV Types 6,...

Cytokinetics Inc announces non-clinical data from multiple programmes presented at the Biophysical Society 54th Annual Meeting.
February 24, 2010... Cytokinetics Inc announced that four abstracts regarding its Research & Development programmes were presented as posters at the Biophysical Society 54th Annual Meeting, held 20-24 Feb 2010 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. The...

Lorus Therapeutics Inc announces publication demonstrating antitumour efficacy of interleukin 17E.
February 24, 2010... Lorus Therapeutics Inc (Lorus) announced a publication demonstrating the antitumour activity of a novel cytokine interleukin 17E (IL-17E). The article entitled 'IL-17E, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, has antitumour efficacy against several tumour...

Cleveland Biolabs Inc selects PharmaVigilant for complex Phase I/II oncology study.
February 24, 2010... PharmaVigilant was recently selected by Cleveland BioLabs Inc, to support a Phase I/II oncology study for prevention of mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing chemoradiotherapy. Cleveland BioLabs chose PharmaVigilant for its...

Market demand for Caleco Pharma Corp's liver health formulation.
February 24, 2010... Caleco Pharma Corp provides insight into the development strategy for its lead, patent protected product line that targets a segment of the market that includes millions of people suffering from various liver maladies, especially the Hepatitis C...

Cleveland Biolabs Inc submits response to Department of Defense request for proposal for radiation countermeasure.
February 24, 2010... Cleveland BioLabs Inc has submitted a response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by The Department of Defense (DoD) for the advanced development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval/licensure and delivery of Medical Radiation...

Leukocare has been granted both ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certification.
February 24, 2010... Leukocare AG a privately-owned company developing innovative biofunctional surfaces using its proprietary stabilizing postcoating technology, announced that it has successfully established a Quality Management System in accordance with ISO...

Aastrom reports interim results from critical limb ischemia trial.
February 24, 2010... Aastrom Biosciences Inc reported results from a planned interim analysis of the company's multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled US Phase IIb clinical trial designated Restore-CLI. According to the interim analysis the safety...

Global Health ventures to initiate human clinical trials in Europe for X-Excite, its male sexual enhancement drug.
February 24, 2010... Global Health Ventures Inc announced that it has engaged Clinical Investigations Ltd of UK to design and carry out the human clinical trials for X-Excite in Europe under the European Regulatory Guidelines. The study is designed to compare three...

Publication of Vical's H5N1 results paves the way for H1N1 clinical trial.
February 24, 2010... Vical Inc announced the publication in the online edition of Vaccine1 detailed data from two Phase I trials of the company's Vaxfectin-adjuvanted DNA vaccines for H5N1 (avian-origin) influenza, demonstrating the potential of DNA vaccines for...

Steroids offer no help for pneumonia.
February 24, 2010... A relatively large randomised trial showed that corticosteroids provided no benefit in most cases, and may have fostered recurrence of pneumonia in some. However, some patients may nevertheless benefit from corticosteroids despite the findings...

FDA Advisory Committee recommends XIFAXANR (rifaximin) 550 mg tablets as first treatment option for hepatic encephalopathy in 30 years.
February 24, 2010... Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd, reported that the Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA has recommended by a vote of 14 to 4 in favour of the approval of XIFAXAN (rifaximin) Tablets, 550 mg for the maintenance of remission of hepatic...

Basilea Pharmaceutica partners with Astellas Pharma Inc.
February 24, 2010... Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd, (Basilea) has entered into a licence, co-development and co-promotion agreement with Astellas Pharma Inc, for Basilea's azole antifungal agent isavuconazole in Phase III clinical development for the...

FDA warns of heart risk with HIV drug combination.
February 24, 2010... The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about potential heart risks when combining two HIV drugs. The agency said preliminary data suggest Roche's Invirase and Abbott Laboratories' Norvir can affect the electrical activity of the...

American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology issue advisory on diabetes drugs and heart risk.
February 24, 2010... The data are inconclusive on heart risks from a class of blood sugar-lowering drugs called thiazolidinediones (TZDs) such as pioglitazone (Actos) or rosiglitazone (Avandia), but the medications should be used with close monitoring from...

Kalen Biomedical Llc signs distribution agreement with Cosmo Bio Co Ltd.
February 24, 2010... Kalen Biomedical LLC (Kalen) signed a distribution agreement with Cosmo Bio Co Ltd in Tokyo. Kalen products are now available through Cosmo Bio Co giving the company an opportunity to provide companies in Japan with its premium quality human...

Patrys Ltd granted key patent for lead anti-cancer product.
February 24, 2010... Patrys Ltd announced that it has just been granted a patent for lead product PAT-CM1. PAT-CM1 is a natural human antibody that has shown great promise for the treatment of solid tumours and metastases across a number of indications including...

Azerbaijan government expands oil production.
February 24, 2010... Azerbaijan increased its oil production 13.5% in 2009 to 50.4 M tonnes. OPEC expects a slight rise in Azerbaijan production in 2010. With average output of 1.13 M barrels/day, an increase of 100,000 bpd is expected. Production of 1.2 M bpd is...

Brazil's Natura posts R$ 186.6 M 4Q net profit, up 34.7%.
February 24, 2010... Brazilian cosmetics company Natura posted a R$ 186.6 M 4Q 2009 net profit on 24 Feb 2010, up 34.7% on 4Q 2008. Net revenue rose 16.3% to R$ 1.319 bn and Ebitda rose 19.3% to R$ 304.3 M. Ebitda margin climbed 0.6 of a point to 23.1%. (Full text).

Brazil Ultrapar posts R$ 148.8 M 4Q net profit, up 119%.
February 24, 2010... Brazilian petrochemical and natural gas company Ultrapar posted a R$ 148.8 M 4Q 2009 net profit on 24 Feb 2010, up 119% on 4Q 2008. Over 2009 as a whole there was an increase of 20% to R$ 466.7 M, largely due to the Ipiranga holding's...

DSM ends 2009 with solid 4Q and very strong cash generation: Financial highlights.
February 24, 2010... For its 4Q 2009, DSM has reported net sales of EUR 2005 M (EUR 2034 M for its 4Q 2008), operating profit of EUR 142 M (EUR 123 M), a net loss of EUR 60 M (net profit of EUR 42 M), and a basic loss per share of EUR 0.39 (basic EPS of EUR 0.24)....