BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU regulator said on Monday it was pressing pharmaceutical companies for more information on their patent deals with generic companies to make sure there is no delay in cheaper drugs coming to market.

The move is the latest in a series of EU crackdowns on possible anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical sector after a 2009 patents enquiry pointed to significant risks for European consumers, the Commission said.

BRUSSELS, Jan 17 (Reuters) – The EU regulator said on Monday
it was pressing pharmaceutical companies for more information on
their patent deals with generic companies to make sure there is
no delay in cheaper drugs coming to market.

The move is the latest in a series of EU crackdowns on
possible anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical sector
after a 2009 patents enquiry pointed to significant risks for
European consumers, the Commission said.

BOSTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has offered concessions in a bid to win European Union antitrust clearance for its $7.7 billion purchase of security software maker McAfee Inc (MFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Shares in McAfee, the world’s No. 2 maker of security software after Symantec Corp (SYMC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), rose 1.7 percent on the news in late morning trade on Thursday, while Intel shares fell 1.4 percent.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – A delegation of three West African presidents who met incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday to deliver an ultimatum to step down or face force left saying more meetings were needed.

Gbagbo’s government, meanwhile, remained defiant in the face of international pressure to cede power, saying it would sever ties with any country that recognized envoys named by rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara.

ABIDJAN/DAKAR (Reuters) – West African leaders have threatened to remove Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo by force if he refuses to go quietly, but are likely to rely on persuasion rather than arms to get their way.

Urban warfare and heavy civilian casualties in the former economic jewel of West Africa would be nearly inevitable if regional bloc ECOWAS rolled in the troops, and member states like Nigeria are reluctant to pay this price, analysts said.

ABIDJAN/DAKAR (Reuters) – West African leaders have threatened to remove Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo by force if he refuses to go quietly, but are likely to rely on persuasion rather than arms to get their way.

Urban warfare and heavy civilian casualties in the former economic jewel of West Africa would be nearly inevitable if regional bloc ECOWAS rolled in the troops, and member states like Nigeria are reluctant to pay this price, analysts said.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – A delegation of three West African presidents who met incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday to deliver an ultimatum to step down or face force left saying more meetings were needed.

Gbagbo’s government, meanwhile, remained defiant in the face of international pressure to cede power, saying it would sever ties with any country that recognized envoys named by rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – A delegation of three West African presidents who met incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday to deliver an ultimatum to step down or face force left saying more meetings were needed.

Gbagbo’s government, meanwhile, remained defiant in the face of international pressure to cede power, saying it would sever ties with any country that recognised envoys named by rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – The government of Ivory Coast’s incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo said it would sever ties with countries that recognised envoys named by presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara in a powerful sign he was not about to quit.

“The government would like to make it known that in the light of such decisions, it reserves the right to apply reciprocity in ending the missions of their ambassadors in Ivory Coast,” the government’s spokesman said in a statement on national television on Tuesday.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – The presidents of three West African states were due in Ivory Coast on Tuesday to tell internationally-isolated incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo to step down or face removal by force.

Regional and world powers want Gbagbo to cede power to rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara after elections last month provoked a dispute that has killed more than 170 people and threatens to tip the country back into civil war.