Company News

Zealand Pharma A/S, a Danish producer of peptide drugs, had a profit of DKK 28.8 million in the first 2014 quarter compared with a loss of DKK 57.3 million a year earlier.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc faced strong competition to its respiratory franchise in the US in the first quarter with the result that group sales declined by 2% at constant exchange rates and the company’s core operating profit was flat.

Silence Therapeutics Plc, a UK company exploring potential therapeutics based on RNA interference, has raised £11.4 million in a private equity placement with institutional investors and management to support its ongoing research and development activities.

Sanofi SA continued its momentum towards a recovery of sales and stronger earnings in the first quarter as most of its diversified portfolio showed year-on-year revenue gains measured in constant currencies.

MorphoSys AG is set to install its latest antibody discovery technology at a unit of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US as part of an alliance aimed at identifying new antibodies f

Pfizer Inc’s potential bid for AstraZeneca Plc appeared to be gaining traction following a Pfizer conference with analysts on 28 April and a formal declaration of interest to the London Stock Exchange earlier the same day.

AstraZeneca Plc has issued a statement saying that in the absence of a “specific and attractive proposal” from Pfizer Inc to merge, it would be inappropriate to engage in discussions on the matter.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange on 28 April, Pfizer Inc confirmed that it has approached AstraZeneca Plc twice about a possible merger, and remains interested in a transaction should this be unanimously recommended by AstraZeneca’s directors.

Novartis had net sales of $14 billion for the first quarter, a rise of 3% in constant currency terms and driven by products that have been on the market since 2009. 

AstraZeneca Plc secured a 3% gain in first quarter revenue to $6.4 billion leading the chief executive Pascal Soriot to declare that the company is gaining momentum after 14 quarters of no growth.