Month: August 2013

By Jessica Toonkel and Soyoung Kim NEW YORK (Reuters) – TPG Capital LP has been exploring a sale of Aptalis Pharma, a specialty drugmaker it has owned since 2008 and values at more than $3 billion, four people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The private equity firm has been working with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Evercore Partners Inc to find a buyer for the Montreal-based drugmaker in a sale process that has been under way for several months, said the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is confidential. …

By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Tax Court fight between Tyco International Ltd and the Internal Revenue Service reflects a growing assertiveness by the agency over deductibility of interest in certain intercompany financing deals, tax lawyers said on Wednesday. Tyco is challenging a $1 billion tax bill assessed by the IRS based on its view that cash transfers carried out within the multinational company were not debt payments, but taxable dividends, according to U.S. Tax Court documents. …

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress has won some partial relief for lawmakers and their staffs from the "Obamacare" health reforms that it passed and subjected itself to three years ago. In a ruling issued on Wednesday, U.S. lawmakers and their staffs will continue to receive a federal contribution toward the health insurance that they must purchase through soon-to-open exchanges created by President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. …

At some Walgreen stores, there are health clinics staffed by nurse practitioners, cafes that sell barista-prepared coffee and Eyebrow Bars where trained professionals groom unruly facial hair.

Sharks have rhythm, too

Higher blood-sugar levels, even those well short of diabetes, seem to raise the risk of developing dementia, a major new study finds. Researchers say it suggests a novel way to try to prevent Alzheimer's disease — by keeping glucose at a healthy level.

By Gene Emery NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Elderly people with high blood sugar – but not high enough to be diabetic – face a slightly greater risk of developing dementia, according to a new study of over 2,000 volunteers. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, does not prove that high glucose levels directly cause dementia. But having an average glucose reading of 105 to 120 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) was tied to an increase in dementia risk by 10 percent to 20 percent in non-diabetics. If the reading was below 100, the risk was lower. …

When it comes to contagious yawns, dogs are no more immune than humans.        

(Reuters) – Array Biopharma said it would cut 20 percent of its workforce as Amgen Inc plans to end an agreement to develop and market Array’s drug to treat Type 2 diabetes. Array shares fell as much as 7 percent to $6.12 in trading after the bell. The company said it would record a one-time restructuring charge of $2.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. The company said it would have 200 employees after cutting 50 jobs. Most of the job cuts will be in the company’s drug discovery business. …

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Older people with impaired blood flow to their brains saw improvements in thinking skills after drinking two cups of cocoa every day for a month, in a new study. The study’s researchers caution, however, that people shouldn’t start stocking up on hot chocolate mix to help solve their crossword puzzles based on the new finding. “We’re several steps removed from that recommendation,” said Dr. Farzaneh Sorond, the study’s lead author from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. …

The cells of cancer patient Henrietta Lacks’ cells are widely used for research.        

NEW YORK (AP) — Some 60 years ago, a doctor in Baltimore removed cancer cells from a poor black patient named Henrietta Lacks without her knowledge or consent. Those cells eventually helped lead to a multitude of medical treatments and lay the groundwork for the multibillion-dollar biotech industry.