Special Report: Late stage hunger drives M&A splurge

Ranbaxy gives away Trovas - Rewards "supporters" with free stock and 90% discount; Zelboraf boosts life expectancy - Extra time for terminal melanoma sufferers; Liver drug has two masters - Registration exposes split ownership

Breaking News - Weds 16 May: GlaxoSmithKline has appointed its former Sales Director for Australia to run the local operation following the departure of Deborah Waterhouse

Just as Pfizer mounts a rear-guard action to stop patients being steered away from Lipitor, additions to the PBS on June 1 will include numerous new brands of the cholesterol-lowerer plus a number of new generic substitutes for other out-of-patent drugs

The turnaround in demand that last year saved AstraZeneca's Sydney factory from closure contributed to a 160% rise in after-tax profit for the company in 2011 despite sales revenue being lower than the previous year

Pfizer has been denied leave to appeal to the High Court in the Efexor-XR case, vindicating generic competitors' decision to flock into the marketplace after their surprise win in the Federal Court last year

Disclosure of total payments to and financial support for healthcare professionals from pharma companies is very likely to be part of the new Medicines Australia Code of Conduct but naming the individuals who receive the benefits appears to be some years away a Code Review Panel document shows

The Government has cut by 57 million its estimate of the number of scripts that will flow through the PBS over the next four years, Budget documents show

The Government has set aside $1.4 million in the Budget to encourage further development of self-regulatory codes across the therapeutic goods sector

Despite merging with US based Nabi Biopharmaceuticals and de-listing in Australia, anti-viral drug developer Biota is to go ahead with the creation of 35 new research and development jobs here, says the Victorian Government

In a relatively subdued week on the drugs register, Roche registered a new presentation of flu anti-viral Tamiflu and Hospira added to the potential generic competitors for Roche's zoledronic acid