Pharma companies release new versions of erectile drugs to battle generics
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Pharmaceutical companies are releasing new versions of erectile dysfunction drugs in anticipation of more competition from generic makers as they battle for a larger slice of the $5-billion a year market.
Pfizer recently launched Viagra Jet, a chewable form of Viagra in Mexico, and will soon market the erectile drug to other countries.
Another ED drug, Levitra, is sold as a dissolvable tablet in nine European nations by Bayer and will soon be sold in the U.S. under the brand name Staxyn. The tablet fizzes and dissolves in seconds.
Cialis, now eight years in the market, is the best seller among the ED drugs because of its promise of enhanced sexual performance for males for 36 hours. Industry observers forecast that Cialis will dethrone Viagra from the number one spot held by Pfizer since 1998.
A Brazilian drug firm is creating a faster-acting version which dissolves faster under the tongue and would increase blood flow to the male organ within 10 or 15 minutes. It would work faster than existing pills which enter the bloodstream indirectly through the stomach, intestines and liver.
When Pfizer’s patent for Viagra’s chemical expires in the U.S. in 2012, generic ED pills could be sold for only a fraction of the current selling price of branded versions at $10 or more.
Pfizer has a second patent for use against impotence, which will lapse by 2019. The firm filed a lawsuit in a Virginia federal court in March 2010 against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries over patent use.
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“Active” Atlantic hurricane season predicted for 2011
Miami, FL, United States (AHN) – An annual report predicting an “active” hurricane season in 2011 has been released. Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project predicts nine Atlantic hurricanes during a busy season.
“We continue to foresee well above-average activity for the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season,” report authors Philip Klotzbach and William Gray explained. “Our seasonal forecast has been reduced slightly from early December… we continue to anticipate an above-average probability of United States and Caribbean major hurricane landfall.”
In December, the team predicted 17 named storms and nine hurricanes. Now, their updated estimate calls for 16 named storms and nine hurricanes.
The Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June 1 until Nov. 30.
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Investors push crude oil prices to 2.5-year highs
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Traders pushed oil prices to highs not seen in more than two years, in part because the weaker dollar makes oil cheaper for investors using other currencies.
The possibility of a government shutdown has pushed the dollar down to its lowest value in trading against other currencies since 2009.
Oil is priced in and purchased with dollars in global markets.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude for May delivery rose $1.10, or 1 percent, to $111.40 a barrel.
On the ICE futures exchange, Brent crude rose by $1.84, or 1.5 percent, to $124.50 a barrel.
Both sweet crude and Brent oil in trading earlier in the day reached levels not seen since September 2008. Light sweet crude reached $111.90 per barrel in intraday trading while Brent crude reached $124.84.
Even before crude oil prices reached two-and-a-half-year highs on Friday, International Monetary Fund officials earlier in the week said that high oil prices were here to stay. Oil prices have risen 12.5 percent over the past decade.
High gas prices are pushing down consumer demand in the U.S. and Europe while China is trying to dampen consumer demand there. However, other things are driving oil prices, including scarcity of supply to meet growth in demand from increased automobile ownership in India and China, unrest in the Middle East and investor speculation in global oil markets.
Gas prices for self-serve regular gas are up more than 20 cents from last month. According to the AAA’s Fuel Gauge Survey, the average price was $3.73.9 a gallon on Friday, up from $3.619 a week earlier.
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Commodity prices soar as investors seek hedge against global instability
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Global economic and political instability has made paper money less attractive to investors who are now driving up prices for commodities such as oil, precious metals and crops.
Sovereign debt risk in Europe and the U.S., coupled with Japan’s post-earthquake and ongoing nuclear crisis on top of political instability in the Middle East, is behind investor decisions to put their money into commodities.
That much liquidity in commodity markets is pushing commodity prices to high levels.
Wednesday morning trading in London saw gold reach a new record nominal high of $1,460.92 per ounce while silver hit a 31-year nominal high of $39.63 per ounce.
Oil settled at $108.34 per barrel, which pushed U.S. gasoline prices up to an average $3.685.
Cotton prices are around $2 per pound, which has many U.S. farmers scrambling to plant cotton this year instead of food crops such as corn, soybeans or peanuts.
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Portugal asks for bailout, EU sets aid
Lisbon, Portugal (AHN) – Portugal’s caretaker government announced Wednesday it has asked the European Commission for financial assistance.
Resigned Prime Minister José Sócrates, said on national television that the bailout was of national interest because rates for borrowings has risen and is no longer sustainable.
Opposition leader Pedro Passos Coelho of the Social Democratic party also delivered a televised statement supporting Socrates’ decision.
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EC, said Portugal’s request for bailout funds will be processed swiftly according to rules.
Yields for Portuguese government debt rose to its highest level this week as a result of the country’s downgrading by credit rating agencies. One-year Treasury bills sold for $650 million had an average yield of nearly 6 percent compared to 4.3 percent last month.
Local bank officials did not want to take on more sovereign debt and urged the government to negotiate for an EU loan.
The bailout for Portugal is expected to amount to $107 billion. The figure will allow the country to borrow $28 billion it needs for the year.
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Higher National Insurance rates loom for 10 million retired British workers
London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – A new British government proposal to provide pensioners a flat weekly state pension of $210 (GBP 140) would result in 10 million workers being forced to pay higher National Insurance premiums.
The changes are part of a planned overhaul of the state pension scheme to simplify the existing complex system.
Under the present system, workers under the final salary scheme pay less inNational Insurance premiums because they were contracted out of the second state pension, which is a top-up to the basic state pension.
A pension expert said those to be affected by the revamp are members of the final salary scheme and self-employed people. While they would get higher pensions when they retire, it also means they would have to pay higher rates while working longer as the government hikes state pension age.
The higher premiums could be up to $450 (GBP 300) a year for public sector workers earning $37,500 (GBP 25,000).
On Monday, Pensions Minister Steve Webb published a green paper on the pension reform which proposed an even higher single weekly flat rate pension of $232.50 (GBO 155). Expected to benefit the most from this higher pension rate are women, low-paid workers, carers and self-employees people.
Webb explained the pension reforms seek to address experts’ forecast that one in six people will live until they reach 100 years old, so that means they have to work longer and save more. Under the green paper, retirement age in Britain would go up to 66 by 2020.
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U.S. stocks tumble, 3-day gain streak ends
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday ending a three-day gain streak as investors shrugged off a report of higher consumer spending in February and retreated over geopolitical concerns.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 23 points or 0.2 percent to close at 12,198. Home Depot was the biggest blue-chip decliner after announcing it will sell a $2 billion debt offering.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 3.6 points or 0.3 percent to 1,310, dragged by Marriott International’s slump.
The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 12 points or 0.5 percent to 2,731 with eBay among the losers after announcing it will acquire GSI Commerce for $2.4 billion.
Oil for May delivery declined $1.42 to $104 per barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery fell $6.60 to $1,420 per ounce.
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Australian dollar rises to record highs against US dollar in Asian currency trading
Canberra, Australia (AHN) – Australia’s dollar rose to record highs in Asian currency trading against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday.
The increase in its currency value came from two factors.
One was the rising demand for Australian commodities fueled by fast-growing economies in the developing nations of China and India.
The other was high demand for currency because insurers are paying damage claims for rebuilding and repairing of properties heavily damaged by the December floods in the Queensland region.
Australia’s dollar rose to a 29-year high in value of $1.0318 in currency pair trading. That is the highest since the country allowed its currency to float in value beginning in 1983.
The actual cash rate is now 4.75 percent, which is a good yield.
In addition, Australia’s dollar rose to 85.69 yen against the Japanese yen, up from 75.05 two weeks ago.
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Somali PM: Negotiations with Puntland underway
Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) – Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has revealed that his government is engaged in talks with the semiautonomous Somali state of Puntland in a bid to resolve the discontinuation of relations between the two governments.
In an interview with state-run radio Saturday night, the prime minister said the transitional federal government is a reconciliation government and is giving first priority to the peace process and reconciliation among all sides in Somalia.
“We have established contacts with Puntland and I am very hopeful that the ongoing reconciliation will yield positive results—we are all optimistic and everything will end in smooth manner,” the prime minister replied when asked if there were talks with the Puntland state.
“We are drawing a new program for the regional autonomies and I hope that all what they are complaining will be solved on the table,” Mohamed said.
Early this year, Puntland announced that it had discontinued cooperative relations with the Somali government, accusing it of denying the region’s rights in the federal government.
Puntland President Dr. Abdirahman Mahmoud Faroole said this week that talks are welcomed, although the decision by his cabinet to cut relations with the TFG was still in place.
Puntland is the largest semiautonomous state in Somalia. Most of the current serving Somali police forces were trained at camps in the Puntland region.
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U.S. stocks up for second straight day on surge of tech shares
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks gained for the second straight day on Thursday as technology firms’ positive earnings reports beat concerns on crises in Japan and Libya.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85 points or 0.5 percent to 12,171 with Hewlett-Packard Co. as the top gainer.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index recovered lost ground since the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan increasing 12 points or 0.9 percent to 1,310. Linux vendor Red Hat was the top gainer after reporting high earnings and raising its profit forecast. Other gainers were semiconductor maker Micron Technologies and chipmaker Nvidia.
The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 38 points or 1.4 percent to 2,736.
Crude oil futures settled at $105.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The oil for May delivery was 59 cents or 0.6 percent lower.
Gold futures for April delivery fell $3.10 or 0.2 percent to $1,440 an ounce.
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