The overall quarterly revenue for Pfizer, the world’s largest global research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company, fell 2.4 percent to $12 billion, and third-quarter net income dropped 77%. Additionally, the company stands to lose patent protection within the next four years on drugs accounting for about half of its 2006 revenue. Key among these products is cholesterol drug Atorvastatin® (Lipitor), the world’s single most successful drug.

In addition, the discontinuation of Exubera® leaves Pfizer with one less drug to make up for those losses. While Pfizer will live to fight another day, the same cannot now be said for Exubera.

Continue reading “Pfizer has Abandoned Inhaled Insulin Product Exubera, will Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Manndkind be Doing a Rethink?” »

Have you started to think about what to buy for your nearest and dearest this Christmas? Ever had friends with body odour, and never had the urge to tell them? Well, soon there will be a solution to both problems, and good bye to the stressful Christmas season.

A new report shows that Japanese manufacturers are increasingly focusing on developing fibres and textiles for personal well-being, hygiene and comfort. Moreover, many of these materials are coated or treated with substances which derive from naturally-occurring chemicals obtained from plants and animals.

Continue reading “Japanese Clothes Could be the Solution to Body Odour: All in a Fibre!” »

This is for all fashionistas out there. ‘The next big thing’, in case you didn’t know, are watches and jewellery. A new report shows that while accessories have enjoyed strong growth as more and more operators exploit the demand for designer handbags, jewellery and watches will become the next ‘must have’ luxury fashion items.

Watches and jewellery will become the second largest sector after fashion and clothing. Clothing commands the largest share of the market – 44.3% in 2007, but it will begin to lose share as other product sectors increase theirs.

Continue reading “Time Will Tell Whether Watches are Good Luxury Investment” »

Feeling fat?

Don’t worry, pop a pill.

An anti-obesity pill to be specific, and soon…you’ll be back to your slimline version again. If that seems more than slightly dangerous and also on the wrong side of futuristic, think again. We’re talking the next five years here. Take a look at a new report that says 2007-2012 are going to be an ‘exciting’ and ‘decisive’ period in the development of anti-obesity drugs with experts predicting that this class of drugs will soon be as safe and reliable as anti-hypertensives. In fact, authors are predicting that by 2012, there is going to be an anti-obesity blockbuster.

Continue reading “Are the Benefits of Anti-Obesity Drugs Going to Outweigh The Risks?” »

Does the negative stereotyping of black people as hoodie-wearing, weapon-wielding, and social-security- using have far wider consequences than we think? I wonder if it’s a factor, for instance, in why the financial services providers have been slow in cultivating members of the community.

Maybe I’m one of those highly-strung people always looking for race-related undertones, but check out this ‘ethnic’ data on the finance sector in the U.S; African- American people own fewer credit cards than other groups, and they also use them far less. A new report states that financial services providers have an untapped market potential in this community and that they have not really made directed efforts towards wooing the market.

Continue reading “The Connection Between Being Black and Using a Credit Card” »

Is your worst nightmare walking in to a shop being bombarded with questions, having to try out clothes with someone breathing down your neck and telling you how well that colour suits you? Would you like a “personal shopper” without actually having to speak to a real person? Well, if so, this is for you.

A new report says that the next step in the battle to retain customers is to streamline the buying experience, bringing it more in line with internet shopping in terms of ease and speed of transaction.

Continue reading “Retailers Determine Age and Sex of Shoppers to Target In-store Adverts” »

The U.S automobile industry has seen less eventful times. Apart from Japanese rival firms like Toyota and Honda hotting up the competition by offering the most fuel-efficient cars, one of North America’s largest workers’ unions is bang in the middle of a series of strikes.

The United Auto Workers’ Union has ended a short strike at Chrysler finishing up just seven hours after it began. The latest strike saw very little financial damage to Chrysler as it turned out to be so short even though 32,000 workers took part. The strike came just weeks after the September 24 strike at General Motors (GM) which lasted two days and cost the company $100 million a day.

Continue reading “Two Down, One to Go? Will Ford be the next Auto Manufacturer to be hit by strikes?” »

Are social networking websites like Facebook, which is allowing users to draw on the system to launch their own services and make money ushering in a new era of social networking? More importantly, is it going to force companies like MySpace and MSN to follow suit?

Continue reading “Is Facebook Giving Other Internet Media Companies A Sense of Insecurity?” »

It’s the age of voting with your wallets – so even the chocolate you add on top of that supermarket cart is a pretty good indicator of the causes you believe in. A new free report says that the fair-trade movement is rapidly coming into its own in the chocolate industry. Consumers are choosing to buy from brands that ensure cocoa farmers in Africa and Latin America get a fair price for their produce. Forget all you knew about chocolate being an indulgence and dangerous to diet plans, the voice-of-the-consumer is also proclaiming that it’s definitely interested in chocolate that has health benefits.

Continue reading “Ethical Chocolate: The New Kid on The Confectionary Block” »

Apple’s ‘revolutionary’ iPhone will be available in the UK on November 9, 2007 via service provider O2. It will cost ₤269. The question is, are you set to finger tap your way to the newest way of making phone calls? A new report says the new phone could potentially transform the wireless industry, and also evaluates the the exclusive relationship between Apple and AT&T.

Continue reading “iPhone Geared Up for the UK, Roll Outs Announced for Europe and Asia too” »