ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – Low doses of Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson’s Xarelto blood clot preventer cut the risk of death by more than 30 percent when used on top of standard blood thinners in patients with acute coronary syndrome, according to data from a study released on Sunday.

The companies had previously revealed that Xarelto met the study’s main goal of significantly reducing the combined risk of death, stroke or heart attack when used on top of Plavix and aspirin compared with those standard medicines alone.

Nov 8 (Reuters) – Bayer AG and Johnson &
Johnson’s Xarelto stands to make major gains this
weekend should clinical data give the drug an edge in a
high-stakes battle among new blood clot preventers.

Xarelto is one of three new drugs that aim to replace
warfarin after decades of use. The new medicines are vying for
position in a multibillion-dollar market.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – It may take a breakthrough treatment for Alzheimer’s disease to match the $130 billion lifetime sales record of Pfizer’s Lipitor, the cholesterol fighter that wrote its own chapter in pharmaceutical history.

Lipitor’s U.S. patent expires on November 30, unleashing a wave of cheap generics and ending a fabled run that began in 1997.

Nov 3 (Reuters) – Scientific instruments maker PerkinElmer Inc bucked a recent trend among rivals in the life sciences
tools sector by raising the low end of its full-year earnings
forecast on Thursday.

PerkinElmer said it expects adjusted earnings of $1.66 to
$1.68 per share, excluding items, boosting the low end of its
prior forecast range by 2 cents. It still expects 2011 revenue to
increase in the mid-single digit range from 2010.

Nov 2 (Reuters) – Dendreon Corp (DNDN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) forecast only
modest sales growth for its Provenge prostate cancer vaccine
for the next several quarters, and its shares fell 23 percent.

The drug began selling in May of 2010 amid much fanfare
after it increased survival in clinical trials, but has so far
been a disappointment in part due to physician uncertainty over
reimbursement for the high-price treatment.

Nov 2 (Reuters) – Dendreon Corp forecast only
modest sales growth for its Provenge prostate cancer vaccine
for the next several quarters, and its shares fell nearly 17
percent.

The drug began selling in May of 2010 amid much fanfare
after it increased survival in clinical trials, but has so far
been a disappointment.

Oct 27 (Reuters) – Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc on
Thursday reported its first ever quarterly profit and said that
its Incivek hepatitis C treatment had sales of nearly $420
million in the first full quarter on the market, making for one
of the most impressive new drug launches in history.

Incivek, which was approved in May, is on track to easily
surpass $1 billion in sales in its first year on the market.

Oct 26 (Reuters) – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc
lowered its full-year earnings and revenue forecast on
Wednesday, citing weakness in academic and government markets
and less favorable foreign exchange rates.

Thermo shares fell 10 percent to their lowest level in more
than a year.

Morningstar analyst Alex Morozov said Thermo management may
have previously been too optimistic in their outlook given that
many smaller rivals in the life sciences tools sector have been
hit hard by slowdowns in academic and government spending.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Abbott Laboratories Inc said on Friday that it could have a shorter duration combination therapy for hepatitis C on the market in 2015 with annual sales potential of about $2 billion.

Significantly, its combination therapy does not include tough to tolerate interferon, which causes flu-like symptoms that lead many patients with the serious liver disease to stop or delay treatment.

Oct 18 (Reuters) – Intuitive Surgical Inc reported
a much higher-than-expected third-quarter profit on increased
demand for its da Vinci surgical robots and a rise in
procedures using the expensive systems, and its shares rose
nearly 8 percent.

The company sold 133 of its surgical systems in the quarter
at a cost of nearly $1.5 million each, and saw procedure volume
rise 30 percent in what has been a traditionally weak quarter
for Intuitive.