Here’s what we can learn from the 10 biggest deals in pharmaceutical history August 7, 2015 The pharmaceutical world is abuzz about a major deal struck between AbbVie and small biotech company Pharmacyclics last night. The US pharma giant bought Pharmacyclics for a massive $21bn (£13.8bn), after fending off fierce competition from the likes of Johnson & Johnson. Why? To get its hands on the firm's super-successful cancer drug Imbuvrica, whose [...]
Lloyds, GSK and Vodafone: The 10 shares pension drawdown investors are buying up August 5, 2015 Four months after pension savers were given freedoms allowing them to withdraw their savings and invest it into other areas, they have yet to spend their pension pots on those Ferraris everyone was worried about when the freedoms were first announced. Or that's according to financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown, anyway, which has listed the top [...]
GSK rehires woman investigated for whistleblowing about bribery August 3, 2015 Vivian Shi, the former Chinese GSK employee who was investigated for leaking information about bribery by the company, has been rehired. Read more: Glaxosmithkline China dismisses more than 100 over bribery scandal that cost company £300m “We can confirm we have rehired Vivian,” the pharmaceutical company said in an e-mailed statement today. “We are [...]
GSK share price rises as it beats expectations – but profits dip July 29, 2015 GSK's shares leaped 3.7 per cent to 1,377p in early afternoon trading after earnings per share beat expectations – despite it taking a hit on Advair. The figures The British pharmaceutical giant's core operating profit for the second quarter fell four per cent to £1.35bn. Net profit fell 77 per cent to £149m compared to the same period last [...]
GSK share price stays steady as not-for-profit Malaria vaccine gains European approval July 24, 2015 GSK's malaria vaccine has gained approval from the European Medicines Agency following a safety and efficacy review, and could soon be used for immunisation across sub-Saharan Africa. Read more: Why drug-resistant superbugs could wipe 6pc off the world economy by 2050 Mosquirix, which is designed primarily for use on children, has taken GSK 30 [...]
Google’s Larry Page, American Express’ Ken Chenault, Three’s David Dyson: These are the UK’s top-rated chief executives, as voted for by their employees June 10, 2015 It's a tough business, being a chief executive these days – so a little bit of love from their employees never goes amiss. Now recruitment site Glassdoor has unveiled its list of the UK's highest-rated chief execs. Alas, the top-rated guy isn't even based here… The list, which is based on approval by their employees, [...]
ViiV Healthcare: GSK share price rises as it scraps plans for £17bn HIV drugs spin-off which would have been one of the biggest IPOs this decade May 6, 2015 Pharma giant GSK (aka GlaxoSmithKline) has abandoned plans for an IPO of its HIV medicines division, it said today. In first quarter results published today, the company said its decision to hang on to ViiV Healthcare reflected an "updated strong positive outlook". Analysts at Jefferies have said ViiV could be valued at as much as [...]
General Election: Only Scottish patients are getting the best new drugs on the NHS April 27, 2015 Terminally ill people in Scotland are being given the best new cancer drugs, while those in the rest of the UK are being deprived of them. This apparently unfair difference stems from the way drug provision by NHS England and NHS Scotland is regulated, with Scotland's drug monitoring body making it much easier for [...]
Glaxosmithkline China dismisses more than 100 over bribery scandal that cost company £300m March 7, 2015 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has booted more than 100 staff in China on the back of its investigations into the corruption scandal that ended with it being fined £300m last year. The company was found guilty last September of bribing doctors to prescribe its medicines, and began an internal investigation to ascertain the extent of the corruption. [...]
GlaxoSmithKline gives shareholders £4bn windfall after Novartis deal March 2, 2015 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is delivering a £4bn windfall to shareholders following the conclusion of a three-way deal with Novartis. The deal comes in the wake of a dreadful 2014 for the British drugmaker in which turnover fell by 10 per cent and profits slumped 15 per cent after declining sales in the US and a bribery [...]