Novartis AG’s blood-pressure drug Diovan has been found to slightly lower the incidence of diabetes in certain high-risk patients, while its other drug has not proved successful in doing so.  However, neither of these drugs helped reduce the risk of heart attacks and related disease in these patients.
 

The Basel, Switzerland-based drug maker Novartis AG Tuesday posted a 54 percent increase in its fourth-quarter net profit to $2.32 billion, largely due to robust sales and favorable exchange rates; and has appointed its pharmaceuticals division chief Joe Jimenez as its new CEO.

Alcon Directors have stated that Novartis' offer to acquire the minority shareholders in the company is "grossly inadequate". The remark came from the independent Directors of the eye-care group on Wednesday.

Novartis has proved via clinical trails that its new leukemia drug Tasigna has managed to perform better than the pharmaceutical company's much popular Gleevec leukemia treatment, in at least the initial results. With the development, Novartis could start positioning the new treatment to try and replace Gleevec.

In its Monday statement, pertaining to its application submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of its lung drug QAB149, or indacaterol, Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said that the FDA has sought additional information on the dosage proposed for the drug.

Novartis AG's experimental respiratory drug QAB149 improved lung function and reduced breathlessness in a late-stage trial of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it is conducting a safety review of the asthma drug Xolair after receiving reports of increased risk of heart attack, abnormal heart rhythm, heart failure, and stroke among patients who use it.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved Ilaris by Novartis AG to treat children and adults. The drug is used to treat a rare but at times fatal auto-inflammatory disease which is caused by a single genetic mutation.

In a "negative surprise" - as DZ Bank analyst Thomas Maul has put it - Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG reported a substantial, 70 percent, jump in its 2008 fourth-quarter profit. The year before, the earnings of the company were disadvantaged largely due to generic competition and product withdrawals.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis will license a programme of vaccines from U.S. group AlphaVax Inc. against cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections.

Under the arrangement, Novartis will pay $20 million upfront to the North Carolina company to secure the right to a developmental vaccine for the cytomegalovirus, or CMV.