Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Award for exceptional research in neuroscience
The 2008 Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Research Award goes to Pascal Fries, MD, PhD, from the F.C. Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. At the Congress of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) taking place from 12-16 July 2008 in Geneva, on the occasion of a special lecture by the prize winner, the Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Research Award will be presented for the fourth time. 
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. 
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.