Germany's Merck to buy Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion

Posted on Monday, September 22, 2014


Germany's Merck to buy Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion

Branch of drugs and chemicals group Merck is pictured in central German city of DarmstadtBy Ludwig Burger FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Drugs and chemicals maker Merck KGaA agreed on Monday to acquire U.S. company Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion in cash to boost its lab supplies business, the biggest takeover in the German group's history. The deal helps Merck, 70-percent controlled by the descendants of its 17th century founder, to focus on supplying major pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions with chemicals and services. ...



U.S., Canada allow emergency use of Tekmira's Ebola treatment

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation's head office is pictured in Burnaby(Reuters) - Canadian drugmaker Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp said on Monday that U.S. and Canadian regulators have authorized the use of its Ebola treatment in patients who have confirmed or suspected infections from the deadly virus. The Vancouver-based company said its treatment, TKM-Ebola, has been administered to patients on an emergency basis and the repeat infusions have been well-tolerated. Expanded access protocols, authorized by the U.S. ...



Streets bustling after Sierra Leone shutdown ends

A baby pig sleeps in front of an ambulance used at the Connaught Hospital as part of their Ebola virus fleet, during a three-day lockdown to prevent the spread on the Ebola virus in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014. Volunteers going door to door during a three-day lockdown intended to combat Ebola in Sierra Leone say some residents are growing increasingly frustrated and complaining about food shortages. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — A news conference to announce the results of a three-day nationwide shutdown designed to help stop the spread of Ebola has been postponed to give officials who fanned out across the country time to reach the capital.



Merck still sees investment grade ratings after Sigma-Aldrich deal

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Drugs and chemicals maker Merck KGaA expects its credit ratings to remain at investment grade levels following its planned acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich , its finance chief said. "We will face a downgrade by the credit rating agencies, however this downgrade will be moderate," Merck Chief Financial Officer Marcus Kuhnert said during a conference call on Monday. "We will absolutely maintain our solid investment grade rating," he said. ...

Siemens to buy Dresser-Rand to tap U.S. shale gas boom

The Siemens logo is seen during the IFA Electronics show in BerlinBy Ludwig Burger and Georgina Prodhan FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Siemens has agreed to buy U.S. oilfield equipment maker Dresser-Rand for $7.6 billion in cash, aiming to catch up with arch-rival General Electric in a booming U.S. shale gas market. The acquisition, which ranks among the biggest in the history of the German industrial group, will strengthen Siemens' position in the United States, its weakest region, and focus the group more tightly on its industrial customers. ...



Sierra Leone records 130 new Ebola cases during 3-day lockdown

An empty street is seen at the start of a three-day national lockdown in FreetownFREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone recorded 130 new cases of the Ebola virus during a three-day lockdown and it is waiting for test results on a further 39 suspected cases, Stephen Gaojia, head of the Ebola Emergency Operations Centre, said on Monday. The country had ordered its six million citizens to stay indoors until Sunday night in the most extreme strategy employed by a West African nation since the start of an epidemic that has infected 5,762 people since March and killed 2,793 of those. "The exercise has been largely successful ... The outreach was just overwhelming. ...



Europe reviewing resources for fight against Ebola -Italy minister

Italy's Health Minister Lorenzin gestures as she speaks during a news conference with Defense Minister Pinotti in RomeMILAN (Reuters) - European countries are assessing what resources they have to help fight Ebola and are planning a coordinated response to the worst outbreak of the virus in history, Italy's health minister Beatrice Lorenzin said on the sidelines of a meeting on Monday. The European Union has pledged 140 million euros ($180 million) to reinforce the fight against Ebola in West Africa, where the haemorrhagic fever has killed at least 2,793 people in five countries, according to the World Health Organisation. "Only four or five countries in Europe are equipped. ...



Siemens sees no more large oil and gas buys soon

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Siemens does not foresee any further significant acquisitions in oil and gas equipment following its agreement to buy Dresser Rand for $7.6 billion, it said. "We do believe now with Rolls Royce and Dresser-Rand we have the gap closed so we would not expect any material acquisition in the next years on this one," Chief Executive Joe Kaeser told a conference call for analysts and journalists. Siemens in May agreed to buy the energy gas turbine and compressor business of Britain's Rolls-Royce. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Arno Schuetze)

Spanish priest with Ebola in serious condition

MADRID (Reuters) - An elderly Spanish priest infected with the Ebola virus is in a serious condition and will not receive the experimental drug ZMapp because world supplies are exhausted, Madrid health authorities said on Monday. Manuel Garcia Viejo, 69, was taken to Madrid's Carlos III hospital at about 0200 GMT (10 p.m. ET on Sunday) after he was repatriated from Sierra Leone. "The patient is badly dehydrated and his kidneys and liver are affected," said Francisco Arnalich, who oversees internal medicine at the hospital. "His situation at the moment is serious. ...

What makes hospital patients turn violent?

By Shereen Lehman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – It's common for patients to come into a hospital with injuries, but too often they’re the ones inflicting injury on nurses, technicians and security guards, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed incident reports of patient violence to identify the situations most likely to lead to a physical conflict, in the hope of training hospital staff to avert the attacks. “This study is contributing to knowledge about how we can develop (patient violence) prevention,” Judith Arnetz told Reuters Health. ...

Auxilium says Endo's offer 'significantly undervalues' company

(Reuters) - Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc said its board had determined that Endo International Plc's offer "significantly undervalues" the company. Auxilium did not reject the offer outright and said it maintained the right to engage in discussions with Endo. Endo made an unsolicited bid last week to buy Auxilium for about $2.2 billion. Auxilium's board determined that Endo's offer is not a superior proposal under the terms of its existing merger agreement with Canadian eye drug maker QLT Inc . ...

WHO experts advise against travel or trade bans on Ebola-hit Africa

GENEVA (Reuters) - Independent health advisers to the World Health Organization (WHO) have assessed that there should be no general ban on travel or trade with countries reeling from an Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the U.N. agency said on Monday. Some airlines have stopped flights to affected areas and WHO and other agencies have said this has hampered aid efforts and the ability of experts to reach victims of the world's worst ever outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever. ...

Spain: Ebola test drug out of supply worldwide

In this photo provided by the Spanish Defense Ministry, aid workers and doctors transfer Manuel Garcia Viejo, a Spanish priest who was diagnosed with the Ebola virus while working in Sierra Leone, from a military plane to an ambulance as he leaves the Torrejon de Ardoz military airbase, near Madrid, Spain, Monday, Sept. 22, 2014. The Spanish priest who was diagnosed with the Ebola virus while working in Sierra Leone has been flown back to Spain and taken to a Madrid hospital. Garcia Viejo, a medical director of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in the city of Lunsar in Sierra Leone, arrived on a medically equipped military plane shortly after 3 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Spanish Defense Ministry)MADRID (AP) — Doctors treating a Spanish priest who was repatriated from West Africa on Monday after being diagnosed with the Ebola virus said there were no samples of experimental drug ZMapp available in the world right now, and they were considering alternative treatments.



After China, GlaxoSmithKline faces pressure for change

The logo of GlaxoSmithKline is seen on its office building in ShanghaiBy Ben Hirschler and Simon Jessop LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline may have closed one chapter in a saga of corruption allegations by accepting a $489 million fine in China, but the drugmaker has its work cut out to win back skeptical investors. That means continued pressure on Chief Executive Andrew Witty, seen not so long ago as one of the sector's star managers, who is under fire for allowing the erosion of GSK's all-important U.S. business just as much as for the woes in China. ...



DISQ fitness fans look like action figures, train like multitaskers

By Dorene Internicola NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some cutting–edge fans of cardiovascular fitness are going a bit bionic as they strap on belts, step into stirrups and grab hand loops on the DISQ, a recently-arrived wearable contraption of adjustable resistance cords. Fitness experts say the device, which was launched in Germany a year a half ago and has become popular throughout Europe and Russia, adds simultaneous and constant resistance to an aerobic workout. ...

Germany's Merck to buy Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion

Branch of drugs and chemicals group Merck is pictured in central German city of DarmstadtBy Ludwig Burger FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Drugs and chemicals maker Merck KGaA agreed on Monday to acquire U.S. company Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion in cash to boost its lab supplies business, the biggest takeover in the German group's history. The deal helps Merck, 70-percent controlled by the descendants of its 17th century founder, to focus on supplying major pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions with chemicals and services. ...



Merck still sees investment grade ratings after Sigma-Aldrich deal

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Drugs and chemicals maker Merck KGaA expects its credit ratings to remain at investment grade levels following its planned acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich , its finance chief said. "We will face a downgrade by the credit rating agencies, however this downgrade will be moderate," Merck Chief Financial Officer Marcus Kuhnert said during a conference call on Monday. "We will absolutely maintain our solid investment grade rating," he said. ...





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