Independent, The (London) - Business Digest
AstraZeneca wins Seroquel case
*The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca received a boost yesterday when an American court upheld its patent over the $4bn- (2bn) a- year schizophrenia and bipolar blockbuster Seroquel.
The New Jersey District Court awarded AstraZeneca summary judgment in the face of claims by the Israeli generics group Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Sandoz, the generics arm of Novartis. AstraZeneca’s shares jumped 4.8 per cent to 2,233p.
Teva said it will appeal but that process will take at least six months. The judgment confirms AstraZeneca’s exclusive right to produce the drug until the patent expires in the United States, the treatment’s biggest market, in 2011.
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Balfour Beatty: We will have ’strong’ year
*The UK’s biggest construction company, Balfour Beatty, bucked the industry gloom yesterday after telling investors trading would remain “strong” this year. Balfour said it had won 400m of new orders in the first five months of the year, taking its order book to 11.8bn.
Among the new deals for the group, which operates in more than 20 countries, is a 330m contract to build a new highway in San Antonia, Texas. It has also been selected as part of the consortium to build the 445m M74 extension in Glasgow. Balfour said the future pipeline of work was also looking good thanks to being selected as the preferred bidder for the M25 widening and maintenance project.
Institutions ‘need tougher regulation’
*The United States has to build a tougher regulatory system that can allow financial institutions to fail without causing wider economic turbulence, the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, said yesterday.
Mr Paulson, who is in London to discuss financial stability with his UK counterpart, Alistair Darling, said that Britain and the US must overhaul the outdated methods of their financial watchdogs to provide better advance warning of looming troubles in world markets. He also called for sweeping new powers for the US Federal Reserve to make it easier to get information on financial institutions - and to intervene if necessary.
Nokia cleared to buy digital mapmaker
*Nokia’s $8.1bn (4.1bn) takeover of Navteq, the digital mapmaker, was cleared by the European Commission yesterday, bringing mobile location-based services a step closer.
With about 40 per cent of the world’s maturing mobile handset market, the Finnish giant is looking for new sources of revenue. It has already launched Ovi, a portfolio of services including maps, music and photo-sharing. Navigation services are another major growth area.
ProCook falls victim to dire trading
*The kitchen equipment and cookware retailer ProCook has gone into administration, becoming the latest victim of dire trading in the retail sector.
KPMG Restructuring has been appointed as administrator for the 39- store chain. Joint administrators are Richard Hill and Joff Pope.
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