Novartis has acquired a 25% stake in Alcon Inc. (NYSE: ACL) as part of a definitive agreement with Nestlé S.A. reached in April 2008 that provides the right to acquire majority ownership of the world leader in eye care in two steps.

Pfizer announced that new statin users who took Lipitor® (atorvastatin calcium) were significantly more likely to stay on their medication compared to those who took simvastatin, according to an observational study of more than 186,000 patients in one of the largest U.S. managed care claims databases. The results were published in the July issue of Current Medical Research and Opinion.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NPC) announced it will appeal a verdict in the Montgomery County Circuit Court. Novartis disputes the State of Alabama's claims that the prices provided by NPC to reporting services resulted in overpayment to pharmacists and doctors in the Alabama State Medicaid system.

Shire Limited (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced that Maia Elfte Vermögensverwaltungs-GmbH, to be renamed "Shire Deutschland Investments GmbH", a German indirect subsidiary of Shire Limited, will launch a voluntary public takeover offer for shares in Jerini AG (FSE:JI4, ISIN: DE0006787476), the publicly listed German biotechnology company.

AstraZeneca announced that the US District Court for the District of New Jersey has granted the company's Motion for Summary Judgment of No Inequitable Conduct. AstraZeneca had sued Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Sandoz, Inc. alleging infringement of AstraZeneca's patent as a result of Teva's and Sandoz's filings of Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs).

GlaxoSmithKline provided the following update regarding its application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of Cervarix®, its vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.

The Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) announced a five-year research collaboration designed to yield new medicines for TB, including drug-resistant TB.