AstraZeneca climbs as it settles key Seroquel patent dispute, but FTSE falters again.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

As markets slip back amid more nervousness about the Eurozone debt crisis, AstraZeneca is bucking the downward trend.

The pharmaceuticals giant is up 12p at 2886.5p after it reached a patent settlement on its best-selling Seroquel XR product - used for treating schizophrenic, bipolar disorder and depression - and pushing back the threat of generic competition in the US. The patent settlement with privately owned Handa Pharmaceuticals means it will not be able to sell a rival version of Seroquel XR in the US until late 2016, and could mean other generic makers are unable to enter the market until after then. Analysts had been expecting rival …