GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has extended its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Human Genome Sciences (HGS) for $13.00 per share in cash to 5:00 pm EST on July 20, 2012. GSK’s tender offer will expire after July 16, the deadline set by HGS for submission of definitive acquisition proposals in its strategic alternatives review process which began on Apr. 19, 2012, after GSK made a private proposal on Apr. 11. Read More

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Merck & Co. and AstraZeneca have agreed to amend their option agreement related to their partnership known as AstraZeneca LP (AZLP), which concerns Merck’s interest in the AstraZeneca gastrointestinal drugs Prilosec (omeprazole) and Nexium (esomeprazole). The updated agreement provides that AstraZeneca will not exercise its option to acquire Merck’s remaining interest in AZLP in 2012, and provides AstraZeneca a new option to acquire Merck’s partnership interest in June 2014. Read More

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Sartorius has officially opened its new filter and aseptic-bag production facility for biopharmaceutical applications at its site in Puerto Rico. The company invested approximately EUR 16 million ($20.2 million) into the expansion of its production capacity in Puerto Rico. Covering an area of 5000 m² (53,820 ft²), the new building complex provides space for two new cleanrooms for filter and bag manufacture, laboratories, and offices. By the end of the 2012, bag-manufacturing operations will be moved from the company’s present site in Concord, California, to Yauco, Puerto Rico. There, Sartorius has added about 120 new employees and thus nearly doubled its workforce at that location. The Concord site is due to close by the end of 2012. Read More

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A roundup of additional company and people news from pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, their suppliers, and contract-service providers. Read More

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