Wildfire rages in southern France

July 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

France, July 25 (Reuters) – A wildfire spread over nine square kilometres (3.5 sq mile) of land in southern France late on Saturday, threatening homes and forcing some areas to be evacuated, fire services said.

The blaze started close to oil refineries near l’Etang de Berre, about 30 km (18 miles) west of the port city of Marseille, before spreading eastwards into arid woodlands.

Fanned by strong winds, television pictures showed large swathes of trees and vegetation ablaze and planes dropping water over the area.

Hundreds of firemen were battling to put out the flames, which were still raging on Sunday morning, but winds had calmed down, emergency services said.

About 2,000 tourists were moved from a campsite. No one was injured, officials said.

Wildfires, often started by arsonists, are frequent during the summer in southern France. (Reporting by Francois Revilla and John Irish in Paris; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Train kills 12 crossing tracks to Spanish festival

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Twelve people were killed when a high-speed train slammed into them as they tried to cross a railway line to get to a festival on a beach near Barcelona late on Wednesday.

World

Thirteen others were injured in the accident at about 11:30 p.m. (2130 GMT) as a group of mostly young people headed for the annual Saint John’s Day celebration at the town of Castelldefels, the Catalan government said.

Emergency services found dismembered bodies scattered at the scene, a short distance from the Castelldefels beach.

One youth told SER radio the revelers had just got off a train.

“At that moment a train came from the other direction and ran everyone over,” said the youth, who gave his name only as Fernando.

“The accident has taken 12 lives and there’s 13 injured, three in critical condition. I wish them a quick recovery,” said Joan Saura, the Catalan regional government’s interior minister.

Dozens of people had been trying to cross the track at an unauthorized point instead of using an underpass on the line between Barcelona and Alicante, the mayor of Castelldefels said.

Earlier reports suggested the underpass had been closed or not well signed, but the mayor said it had been open.

Railway operator Renfe said it would carry out a full investigation.

Spain’s public works minister Jose Blanco said he would cut short his visit to Luxembourg to go to the scene later on Thursday. He urged an investigation as soon as possible.

St. John’s Day, June 24, is a public holiday in many parts of Spain and bonfire celebrations traditionally begin the night before.

The accident was Spain’s worst rail accident since 2003, when 19 people died when two trains collided near the central town of Chinchilla.

(Reporting by Nigel Davies and Martin Roberts; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Bellevue Asset Management : Bellevue Asset Management creates independent Advisory Board

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Bellevue Asset Management / Bellevue Asset Management creates independent Advisory Board
processed and transmitted by Hugin AS. The issuer is solely responsible for the content
of this announcement.

PRESS RELEASE
Küsnacht, June 14, 2010

Investment expertise in healthcare sector strengthened

As part of the systematic expansion of its sector and investing expertise, Bellevue
Asset Management has created a Healthcare Advisory Board composed of highly qualified
executives with many years of experience as well as distinguished scientists. This
further strengthens the company’s proven competency in the healthcare sector as well as
its already extensive international network. The objectives here are detecting mega
trends and investment opportunities at a very early stage, systematically identifying
groundbreaking innovations and realistically evaluating their prospects of success and,
ultimately, using this knowledge to make sound and successful investment decisions.

The creation of an independent Healthcare Advisory Board marks another step forward in
the steadfast implementation of Bellevue Asset Management’s strategic expansion of its
asset management business. The company has attracted prominent executives and experts
with excellent credentials and track records to its international Advisory Board. They
are industry representatives with high R&D competence and who are very familiar with
regulatory processes or have decades of experience in managing international companies.
The newly constituted board chaired by William M. Burns, former CEO of the Pharma
Division at Roche, will focus its attention on trends and investment opportunities in
the healthcare sector.

The board members, internationally recognized experts representing diverse industrial
and academic backgrounds, will advise the investment specialists at Bellevue Asset
Management and support them in the evaluation of consequential medical and technical
innovations in the biotechnology and medical technology sectors as well as in other
areas, including the corresponding investment possibilities.

“The innovative forces at work in the healthcare sector remain as strong as ever, which
makes the early detection of critical trends and an accurate assessment of the chances
of their successful commercial realization all the more important. We are looking
forward to a fruitful and rewarding interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and ideas
with the portfolio managers,” says William M. Burns, Chairman of the Advisory Board.
Hans-Peter Diener, CEO of Bellevue Asset Management, adds: “We are honored to be able to
consult such high-caliber professionals while screening, evaluating and realizing
investment opportunities, for it is only through an active discourse with the best
experts worldwide that specialist knowledge and expertise can be maintained and
developed at internationally competitive levels. This, in turn, enables us to detect
future investment ideas early on and realistically assess their prospects.”

The Healthcare Advisory Board consists of the following experts:

William M. Burns (Chairman)

Board member of Roche Group; ex-CEO Roche Pharma; Board member of Chugai and member of
the Advisory Board of Genentech; Board member of Shire and Crucell

Prof. Dr. Dr. Uwe Bicker

Aventis Foundation trustee; Board member of Sanofi-Aventis; Vice Chairman of Epigenomics
AG; Professor at the Faculty of Clinical Medicine Mannheim, University of Heidelberg

Prof. Dr. Stefan Catsicas

Co-founder of the Tilocor Life Science biotechnology group; Former Professor at the
School of Medicine in Lausanne and Professor, Vice President and Research Director at
the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Lausanne)

Dr. Jürgen Schwiezer

Ex-CEO Roche Diagnostics

Prof. Dr. Thomas Szucs

Chairman of Helsana Group and BB Biotech AG; Director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical
Medicine at the University of Basel

Prof. Dr. Otmar D. Wiestler

Chairman of the Management Board and Scientific Director of the German Cancer Research
Center, Heidelberg

Bellevue Asset Management is one of the leading providers of investment management
services in the healthcare sector, specifically in medical technology and biotechnology.
14 experts in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, medicine and economics
manage approximately CHF 2.2 billion using specialized sector strategies in the
healthcare sector. With an average of 10 years of professional experience and a network
of contacts spanning the globe, they are a key factor for competitive and sustainable
investment success.

Based on its profound healthcare expertise Bellevue Asset Management offers a
comprehensive range of investment vehicles:

Traditional investment vehicles

BB Biotech AG (listed investment company)
BB Biotech (Lux) Fund
BB Medtech (Lux) Fund
BB Healthcare (Lux) Fund

Non-traditional investment vehicles

BB Bioventures
BB Biotech Ventures II – III
BB Alpha Health (long/short equity fund)

For further information:

Bellevue Asset Management AG, Seestrasse 16/P.O. Box, CH-8700 Küsnacht/Zurich

Thomas Egger, Tel. +41 (44) 267 67 09, teg@bellevue.ch mailto:teg@bellevue.ch

Images available here

http://www.bellevue.ch/cms/bellevue_asset_management/page3508.html

(http://www.bellevue.ch/cms/bellevue_asset_management/page3508.html
http://www.bellevue.ch/cms/bellevue_asset_management/page3508.html )

Bellevue Asset Management

Bellevue Asset Management is an independent and highly specialized asset management
boutique focused on managing equity portfolios for selective sector and regional
strategies as well as institutional portfolios, particularly in the areas of healthcare,
new markets and Swiss/European equities.

HUG#1423774

Press Release Bellevue Asset Mgt (PDF) http://hugin.info/142988/R/1423774/372552.pdf

— End of Message —

Bellevue Asset Management
Seestrasse 16 / P.O. Box Kusnacht/Zurich Switzerland

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UPDATE 1-Roche wins wider EU label for arthritis drug

June 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 8 (Reuters) – Roche (ROG.VX) said on Tuesday the European Commission had extended the label for its drug Roactemra to reduce the rate of progression of joint damage and improve physical function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, when given in combination with the older drug methotrexate.

The move had been expected following a positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency in April.

The drug, which is known as Actemra in the United States, is currently approved for use in combination with methotrexate to treat adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis who respond inadequately to other treatments.

The new label extension is a recognition that Roactemra can also inhibit structural damage to joints, reinforcing its effectiveness.

(Writing by Ben Hirschler)

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Cancer news boosts Bristol; Roche, Novartis steady

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

* Bristol-Myers shares up 2.6 percent in thin German trade

* Melanoma data underpins sales hopes for ipilimumab

* Roche ovarian cancer data seen “solid but not stunning”

* Novartis looks well-placed to fight challenger in CML

* UK biotech Antisoma up 22 percent on hopes for mid-stage drug

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U.S. embassy in Nigeria raises security alert status

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Wed, Mar 31 02:07 PM

The United States embassy in Nigeria said on Wednesday it had raised its security alert status because of “continuing worldwide terrorist threats against U.S. citizens”.

An email sent to Americans living in Nigeria did not give details of the threats.

“Due to continuing worldwide terrorist threats against U.S. citizens, U.S. government facilities, and U.S. interests, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, which includes the U.S. Embassy in Abuja and the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos, has increased its alert status,” the notice said.

(Reporting by Randy Fabi; editing by Andrew Roche)

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First case of Tamiflu resistance in pandemic swine flu emerges in Denmark

July 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, July 1 (ANI): For the first time, the National Health Board of Denmark has announced a case of pandemic H1N1 flu resistant to the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

However, the board has claimed, “there is no evidence” that the virus has spread.

While the case is likely to be isolated, the discovery has led to calls questioning the policy in most European countries of giving low doses of Tamiflu to people in contact with infected people.

The Danish case, a contact of someone who caught swine flu abroad, was given Tamiflu as prophylaxis to prevent her getting sick, but she still developed symptoms.

Later she took Relenza, another antiviral drug, and recovered.

The State Serum Institute in Copenhagen found that her virus carried a mutation giving resistance to Tamiflu.

Thus, they are thinking that the resistance emerged during treatment rather than having been there already.

“Such a development is no surprise from a scientific point of view,” New Scientist quoted David Reddy, head of the pandemic taskforce at Swiss company Roche, which produces Tamiflu.

Like antibiotics, antiviral drugs favour the survival of strains that resist the drug.

While Reddy said that the resistance in Danish case was unlikely to spread, but it is known that H1N1 viruses that resist Tamiflu are quite capable of spreading.

Already, the normal seasonal H1N1 virus became almost entirely Tamiflu resistant over the past two years.

Thus, scientists fear the pandemic virus, also a member of the H1N1 family, might acquire Tamiflu resistance by interbreeding with these ordinary strains.

It might also evolve resistance by exposure to the drug. (ANI)

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Shanghai firm rolls out antiviral drug to combat swine flu

June 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Shanghai, June 27 (ANI): A pharmaceutical company in Shanghai has rolled out the first batch of antiviral drugs to combat Influenza A (H1N1) virus, which is responsible for the swine flu pandemic around the world.

The Shanghai Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. has manufactured 256,000 Oseltamivir Phosphate Capsules, after all the quality tests required were passed.

“The antiviral drug, or the Chinese version of Tamiflu by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding, was first produced in 2005 to cope with the bird flu outbreak with the authorization of Roche,” said Xinhua quoted Wu Jianwen, president of Shanghai Pharmaceutical, as saying.

The Shanghai Pharmaceutical had closed down production of Oseltamivir Phosphate Capsules in 2007, however, following a call from the central government to combat the A(H1N1) flu, it resumed production of the pill in April 2009.

“Currently, we’ll be able to turn out 2 million pills per month, and we can expand the output capacity in the future if the flu epidemic shows new changes,” said Wu Jianwen.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Health, China has at least 570 confirmed cases of A(H1N1) flu, but no fatalities have been reported.

Meanwhile, China has also set up laboratory tests on the country’s first developed A(H1N1) flu vaccine, with the help of the seed virus that they have received from a World Health Organization (WHO) lab.

The vaccine will undergo a 14 day safety tests in labs and two-month of clinical tests from July. Subsequently, it is expected to be available in markets in September. (ANI)

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Social ‘petworking’ sites maybe a recipe for disaster for pets, owners alike

May 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 11 (ANI): Social “petworking” sites could put members and their pets in danger, experts have warned.

Online communities have witnessed a rise in the number of owners who are revealing breed information, details of their walking routine and posting pictures, while creating profiles for their pets on the Internet.

Debbie Connolly, Animal Behaviourist and Founder of SafePets UK, fears that pet owners may easily be inviting troubles like dog-knapping, if they are not careful enough to limit their information on ‘petworking’ websites.

“Never mind the dogs, what about personal safety? Most of the users are women. It’s a ‘please stalk me and steal my dog’ site,” Sky News quoted her as saying.

But some argue that such websites just offer fun for genuine animal lovers.

Geoffrey Roche, creator of Dogbook, an application from Facebook, said that the “dangers” involved were like anywhere else on the rest of the WorldWideWeb.

He said: “Of course you should be careful, but no more so than anywhere else on the internet. People can put up faux profiles anywhere, and the same sort of things to watch out for would exist for if you meet someone through your dog.” (ANI)

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Swiss flu medicine company sees stock rise with outbreak

May 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Geneva – The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, maker of influenza medication Tamiflu, saw its stock price rise 3.6 per cent in trading late Monday afternoon on the Zurich exchange on the back of the global swine flu outbreak. During the avian flu epidemic the drug was used heavily, particularly in South Asia.

Shares in Roche were trading at close to 145 Swiss francs (126 dollars), up over five francs since the opening.

“It is very difficult at the moment to make clear predictions as we do not yet have a pandemic. The situation is classified as potentially a pandemic, but this is not yet the case,” said Thomas Kaufmann, a pharma analyst at Credit Suisse Private Banking.

“The two obvious companies to benefit would be Roche with Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline with Relenza,” he noted, referring to the main drugs on the market, though other companies were also developing possible treatments.

Martina Rupp, a spokeswoman for Roche, said Tamiflu was deemed to be effective against the swine variant.

“Tamiflu can always be used,” she explained, noting that as an antiviral, unlike vaccines, it did not need to be adjusted to specific strains of flu.

Relenza was also being considered effective, Kaufmann noted.

Furthermore, the outbreak was likely to make governments increase spending on health, particularly in relation to flu, over the longer term.

“Governments might very well increase grants and funding for research,” Kaufmann at Credit Suisse said, which “can be very helpful for smaller companies.”

“As risk of a pandemic is always here now and is always recurring, there is a high chance of an increase in spending” at the governmental level, particularly when it comes to stockpiling drugs, he said.

South Korea has announced it would double its stockpiles of Tamiflu.

Many countries are still below the WHO recommended reserve supply levels.

The research department at Roche was looking into dosing schemes, checking to see “how much and for how long,” meaning how many pills should be taken and over what period, to achieve maximum effectiveness, said Rupp.

In recent years Roche has donated 5 million doses of Tamiflu to the World Health Organisation.

Of these, 2 million were distributed “to stockpiles in countries not yet well prepared” in the developing world, Rupp said.

From the remaining doses, the company had 1.5 million in Switzerland and an identical amount in the US on standby as a “fire-blanket,” to be distributed if needed in case of a pandemic.

“We are waiting for WHO to ask us to deploy,” Rupp said, noting that the company had the capacity to ramp up production if that was requested by the international organization.

She added that in 2005, the full production capacity was never used.

WHO was preparing for a second meeting of its International Health Regulation Committee, after having convened one session over the weekend.

The World Health Organization and Red Cross officials said the world was better prepared for the current situation of swine flu, owing to steps taken by governments during the avian outbreak, including the stockpiling of needed drugs. (dpa)

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Swiss flu medicine company sees stock rise on back of outbreak

May 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Geneva – The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roch, maker of influenza medication Tamiflu, saw its stock price rise 3.8 per cent in early trading Monday on the Zurich exchange on the back of the global swine flu outbreak. During the avian flu epidemic the drug was used heavily, particularly in South Asia.

Shares in Roche were trading at close to 145 Swiss francs (126 dollars), up over five francs since the opening.

Martina Rupp, a spokeswoman for Roche, said Tamiflu was deemed to be effective against the swine variant.

“Tamiflu can always be used,” she explained, noting that as an antiviral, unlike vaccines, it did not need to be adjusted to specific strains of flu.

The research department at Roche was however looking into dosing schemes, checking to see “how much and for how long,” meaning how many pills should be taken and over what period, to achieve maximum effectiveness.

Rupp said Roche had donated in recent years 5 million doses of Tamiflu to the World Health Organisation.

Of these, 2 million were distributed “to stockpiles in countries not yet well prepared” in the developing world. From the remaining doses, the company had 1.5 million doses in Switzerland and an identical amount in the US on standby as a “fire-blanket,” to be distributed if needed in case of a pandemic.

“We are waiting for WHO to ask us to deploy,” Rupp said, noting that the company had the capacity to ramp up production if that was requested by the international organization. She added that in 2005, the full production capacity was never used.

The WHO was preparing for the second meeting of its International Health Regulation Committee on Tuesday, after having convened one session over the weekend.

A World Health Organization official said on Sunday that the world was better prepared for the current situation of swine flu, owing to steps taken by governments during the avian outbreak, including the stockpiling of needed drugs. (dpa)

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Hyderabad drug firm claims it can increase production of swine flu drug

May 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Hyderabad, May 2 (ANI): An Indian pharmaceutical company in Hyderabad claims that it can revamp the production of antiviral drugs, which can tackle the swine flu drug as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of an imminent pandemic.

Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs, the only supplier in India licensed by Swiss-based Roche, could ramp up production to reach monthly capacity of about 80 million doses of ‘Oseltamivir or Fluvir’, used to treat swine flu cases, within weeks.

Hetero is an Indian company with a sub-license from Roche to manufacture Tamiflu.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) sounded an emergency after the report of first death from outside Mexico, where it killed 149 people and is now reported to have spread to so far as New Zealand.

Since avian flu caught the world off guard in 2003, Swiss drug maker Roche has authorised drug companies in developing countries to manufacture an inexpensive generic form of its Tamiflu drug, called ‘Oseltamivir or Fluvir’.

Hetero is the only producer licensed by Roche for the generic drug in India.

“This particular drug, we supplied more than about 50 million capsules here in 2006. At that time, we supplied about close to one million capsules to the Government of India. We are also committed to our government that whenever there is any kind of such situation arises, we are in a position to supply,” said B P Srinivas Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, Hetero Drugs Limited.

Reddy further added that the Central Government asked them for the drug and the government may stockpile about 10 million doses of the drug to deal with any outbreak.

“Again last week, the Government of India contacted us and we have given assurance that we are going to supply. Yesterday, there was an enquiry that they may stockpile about ten million doses. We said we are ready to supply and cooperate,” said Reddy.

The company is licensed to export to about 100 developing countries. The fears of swine flu having reached India were dispelled by the WHO, which said the country has not reported any swine flu case and was prepared to handle a possible outbreak.

Reddy also said that there is no need to worry about the spread of virus in the country, as the virus exists in places where the average temperature is less than 32 degrees.

“As far as our country is concerned, nothing to worry because this particular virus, which is causing the disease can exist only less than 32 degrees,” added Reddy.

Hetero supplied 200 million doses of the drug in the last three years to India and other countries, Reddy said, further adding that inquiries about the supplies are pouring in from countries like Latin America, South-East Asia and Middle East.

While there is no vaccine for the swine flu, the generic drugs have been proved to be effective.

The Central Government has stepped up surveillance across international airports and ports to check for any swine flu symptoms. The recently discovered disease (swine fever) is caused by the H1N1 virus type through the mutation of flu that infects swine, human as well as avian population. (ANI)

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Hyderabad firm claims boost up of anti-swine flu drug

May 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Hyderabad, May 1 (ANI): A Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company has claimed that it can ramp up the production of anti-viral drugs, which can tackle the swine flu, even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of an imminent pandemic.

Hetero Drugs, the only supplier in India licensed by Swiss-based Roche, has claimed that it has reached a monthly production capacity of about 80 million doses of ‘Oseltamivir or Fluvir’, required to treat swine flu cases, within weeks.

Hetero is an Indian company with a sub-license from Roche to manufacture Tamiflu and it’s the only producer licensed by Roche for the generic drug in India.

The World Health Organistaion (WHO) signalled an emergency after receiving a report of the first death from outside Mexico, where 149 people have died so far. The virus is now reported to have spread to as far as New Zealand.

Since avian flu caught the world off guard in 2003, Swiss drug maker Roche has authorised drug companies in developing countries to manufacture an inexpensive generic form of its Tamiflu drug called Oseltamivir or Fluvir.

“We supplied more than about 50 million capsules of this particular drug here in 2006. At that time we supplied about close to one million capsules to our Government of India. Also we are committed to our government that whenever there is any kind of such situation, we are in a position to supply,” said B. P. Srinivas Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director (MD), Hetero Drugs Limited.

During that time, Hetero supplied about close to one million capsules to the Central Government, said Reddy.

Reddy said the government has asked them for the drug and may create a stockpile of about 10 million doses to deal with any outbreak.

“Again last week, our Government of India contacted us. We have given assurance that we are going to supply. Yesterday, there was an enquiry that they may stockpile about ten million doses. We said we are ready to supply and cooperate,” said Reddy.

The company is licensed to export to about 100 developing countries.

Meanwhile, the fears of swine flu having reached India were dispelled by the WHO, which said the country has not reported any swine flu case and was prepared to handle a possible outbreak.

Reddy also said that there was no need to worry about the spread of virus in the country, as the virus exists in places where the average temperature is less than 32 degrees.

“As far as our country is concerned, there is nothing to worry because this particular virus, which is causing the disease, can exist only less than 32 degrees. Based on the food habits what we have, our people even non-vegetarian people eat well-cooked meat… more than 40 degree to 70 degree, where there is no chance of sub-existence of this virus’ survival,” Reddy said.

Hetero supplied 200 million doses of the drug in the last three years within India and rest of the world.

Reddy informed that inquiries about the supplies are pouring in from countries like Latin America, South-East Asia and Middle East.

While there is no vaccine for the swine flu, the generic drugs have been proved to be effective.

The Government of India has stepped up surveillance across international airports and ports to check for any swine flu symptoms.

The recently discovered disease (swine fever) is caused by the H1N1 virus type through the mutation of flu that infects swine, human as well as avian population. (ANI)

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Exoplanets which venture near their host stars are doomed to premature deaths

May 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, April 29 (ANI): Two new studies have suggested that exoplanets which venture near their host stars are doomed to premature deaths – even before they get close enough to be ripped apart by the stars’ gravity.

According to a report in New Scientist, the studies say that a star’s gravity can put a nearby planet on a ‘fast track’ to spiralling into the star and may also cause the planet to lose much of its atmosphere.

More than 300 exoplanets have been catalogued to date. Many are situated close to their host stars, where it is thought to be too hot for gas and dust to collapse into planets in the first place.

That implies that the planets came from farther away and migrated inwards.

But strangely, the closest-in ones are commonly found some 0.05 astronomical units (AU) from their host stars (1 AU is the distance from the Earth to the sun).

This distance, which corresponds to a three-day orbit around a star as heavy as the sun, is sometimes called the “three-day pile-up”.

No one is sure why the planets seem to pile up there. Very close to a star, at a boundary called the Roche limit, planets are dismembered by the star’s gravity.

But, the migration of planets seems to stop well outside this limit. So, the question remains that why do planets seem to stop there?

Brian Jackson of the University of Arizona in Tucson and colleagues offer an explanation.

There may be planets that orbit closer in, but they will not do so for very long before they get dragged inwards by their host star’s gravity.

The tugging is caused by tidal forces between the planet and its star – differences in the pull of gravity on the objects’ near and far sides.

Close-in planets seem to orbit their stars faster than the stars themselves rotate, so this tidal friction will have the opposite effect.

It causes the stars to deform. Their gaseous atmospheres are stretched towards the close-in planets, and causes the planets to migrate inwards.

Planets may only last in close-in orbits for perhaps tens of millions to a few billion years before spiralling into their stars.

“Once a planet gets that close, the tide raised on the star by the planet causes the planet to migrate in so quickly they’re hard to catch,” Jackson told New Scientist.

Stars that are spinning abnormally fast for their age could also be a sign that they have absorbed a planet and “spun up” as a result, he added. (ANI)

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Roche’s Humer said to have had Genentech buy doubts

April 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Roche Chairman Franz Humer, the driving force behind the company’s acquisition of the 44 percent of Genentech it did not already own, apparently did not always think that was good idea.

David Mott, who was chief executive of MedImmune when it was acquired by AstraZeneca (AZN.L), said on Tuesday that he had sought Humer’s advice in 2007 as Mott pondered his future with AstraZeneca shortly after that $15.6 billion deal was announced.

“Our model is a lot like your model with Genentech. We’re going to have an independent operating entity and run it that way,” Mott recalled telling Humer of his integration plan.

“He laughed at me and he said, ‘it will never work because if we owned all of Genentech we would kill it’,” Mott said Humer told him at the time.

“‘We wouldn’t be able to resist tinkering and playing with it and AZ owns all of you, so they say it’s going to be independent but we’d never be able to have that discipline,’” Mott said, quoting Humer.

Mott, who left AstraZeneca a year later, was speaking on a panel at the Windhover Pharmaceutical Strategic Outlook conference at a New York hotel when he related his anecdote about the then CEO of Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX). Mott is currently general partner of venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.

Roche now believes it can resist the kind of tinkering that might kill the golden goose.

Current Roche management, including Humer and new CEO Severin Schwan, have insisted they will preserve the informal California science-based culture at Genentech that has produced a remarkable number of innovative and lucrative medicines.

The nearly $47 billion deal made sense for Roche as it not only gives it full U.S. revenue from Genentech’s multibillion-dollar cancer drugs, such as Avastin and Herceptin, but fills out what had been a rather sparse developmental pipeline for the Swiss drugmaker.

Following the panel discussion on the ability of biotech companies to survive within big pharmaceutical companies, Mott was asked what he thought Humer might tell him today about Roche owning all of Genentech.

“That it’s going to work,” Mott said with a chuckle. “It’s pretty interesting with hindsight, isn’t it?”

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Polish politician fumes over “gay” elephant in zoo

April 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

WARSAW (Reuters) – A Polish politician has criticized his local zoo for acquiring a “gay” elephant named Ninio who prefers male companions and will probably not procreate, local media reported on Friday.

“We didn’t pay 37 million zlotys ($11 million) for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there,” Michal Grzes, a conservative councilor in the city of Poznan in western Poland, was quoted as saying.

“We were supposed to have a herd, but as Ninio prefers male friends over females how will he produce offspring?” said Grzes, who is from the right-wing opposition Law and Justice party.

The head of the Poznan zoo said 10-year-old Ninio may be too young to decide whether he prefers males or females as elephants only reach sexual maturity at 14.

(Reporting by Chris Borowski; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Five U.S. soldiers among dead in north Iraq blast

April 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Five U.S. soldiers were killed in a suicide truck bomb attack in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The blast also killed two Iraqi policemen, the statement said.

(Writing by Mohammed Abbas; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Politician fumes over “gay” elephant in zoo

April 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

WARSAW (Reuters) – A Polish politician has criticized his local zoo for acquiring a “gay” elephant named Ninio who prefers male companions and will probably not procreate, local media reported Friday.

“We didn’t pay 37 million zlotys ($11 million) for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there,” Michal Grzes, a conservative councilor in the city of Poznan in western Poland, was quoted as saying.

“We were supposed to have a herd, but as Ninio prefers male friends over females how will he produce offspring?” said Grzes, who is from the right-wing opposition Law and Justice party.

The head of the Poznan zoo said 10-year-old Ninio may be too young to decide whether he prefers males or females as elephants only reach sexual maturity at 14.

(Reporting by Chris Borowski; editing by Andrew Roche)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,