Pharmaceutical Sector

A vaccine meant to protect women from herpes has failed to clear trials in shielding them against the virus. The declaration regarding the failure of the vaccine was made by the U. S National Institute of Health.

The manufacturer of the medicine, GlaxoSmithKline has stalled the production of the vaccination. The trials were conducted on 8,000 women from the United States and Canada. Despite administering the anti-herpes vaccine Simplirix by GSK, the women fell prey to the virus and contracted genital herpes.

On Monday, a Sanofi Spokesman said that the Company has not modified its $69 a share offer for drug manufacturer Genzyme. The Spokesman refused to remark on a report, which the drug maker had assembled in order to get more funding for this offer.

The Company said that it has already arranged funds from J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA. It did not offer any remarks on a Wall Street Journal report that was unveiled during the weekend, saying that Sanofi-Aventis had gathered extra funding from Citigroup and Bank of America Corp.

On Friday, the Health Regulators at the European Medicines Agency granted AstraZeneca Plc, the second largest drug manufacturer in the UK, its premarket approval on Brilinta, the new blood thinner and heart drug. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency stated that Brilique, also known as Brilinta, would reduce the risks of heart attacks when used in combination with aspirin.

The top-selling Similac powdered infant formula commonly sold in cans and plastic containers is being recalled, for there is a fear of contamination by beetles or larvae of the bugs.

Approximately 5 million containers are being recalled by the Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories and the products that are sold in liquid form are not part of the recall.

"We know that parents place a lot of trust in our Similac brands and delivering anything less than the highest quality infant formula to them is unacceptable to us", said Abbott Spokeswoman Melissa Brotz.

On Wednesday, Abbott Nutrition International issued a public warning alerting the customers from buying the cans of infant’s powder formula of the Similac brand. The warning came as the Abbott Laboratories detected that there might be a beetle in the product, which according to the spokesperson of Abbott, Melissa Brotz, is ‘small’ and ‘common’.

It has been reported by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that this small common beetle might cause discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract, in case ingested. This would lead to the loss of appetite.