Irish drugmaker Shire has signed a merger agreement to acquire US-based NPS Pharmaceuticals for $5.2bn.

US-based Biogen Idec is set to acquire British clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, Convergence Pharmaceuticals.

Determined to cement access to reliable and safe sources for crucial IV drug admixtures, a growing number of hospitals are bringing production of compounded sterile products (CSPs) in-house and turning their backs on external compounding pharmacies. Such far-reaching decisions reflect the lingering distrust of outsourced CSPs, according to several administrators from hospitals that have made this move.

Global pharma major Novartis will acquire GlaxoSmithKline Plc's (GSK) cancer drugs portfolio for $16 billion and sell its vaccines business in return for $7.1 billion, apart from forming a joint venture for the consumer healthcare business in a three-part transaction.

Biotechnology firm Biocon on Friday reported a 54.51 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 113.08 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 248.61 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Drug major Lupin has entered into a joint venture pact with Toyama-based Yoshindo Inc to form a new entity which will be responsible for development as well as obtaining marketing access for products in the Japanese market.

Xenometrix produces and distributes today's most advanced mutagenicity assays and cytotoxicity screening kits designed to help reduce hands-on time, test compound consumption, plastic waste and consequently the cost.

Avisoft Bioacoustics provides cutting-edge equipment for monitoring mice and rat ultrasonic vocalisations (USV) in drug development procedures and basic research in neuroscience. USV are used as an indicator of the emotional and motivational status in animal models of stress, anxiety, pain, drug abuse or communicative disorders. The Avisoft Bioacoustics UltraSoundGate system integrates optimised hardware and software components that are easy to use and provide superior results.

DNA Electronics Ltd (DNAe), a developer of semiconductor solutions for real-time DNA and RNA detection, today announces that it had successfully secured the necessary funding for DNAe to develop the Genalysis® point-of-care genomic diagnostic product line. The majority of the funding had been provided by its principal shareholder, Edith Grove Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Genting Berhad), with the company’s founders also making further investment. DNAe will utilise the funding to transform the company from an R&D and licensing business to a full-fledged product company, offering point-of-care solutions for time-critical medical applications.

Amgen (AMGN), Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Broad Institute have entered inot a strategic collaboration to jointly discover and validate new therapeutic targets and develop novel therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).