Month: May 2014

Saudi Arabia has found 25 more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as the rate of infections rises and two more people have died from the new disease, the kingdom's Health Ministry said. On Friday seven people were confirmed as having MERS, followed by 18 more on Saturday, the biggest daily increase in new infections so far. On Friday the United States said it had discovered its first confirmed case of the disease in a man who had recently been in Saudi Arabia. Egypt said it discovered its first case, also in a man who had been in Saudi Arabia, on Thursday.

Pfizer Inc has already had its takeover overtures rebuffed three times by rival AstraZeneca Plc, but investors in the U.S. drugmaker say it can tolerate a little more rejection before going hostile with the deal. AstraZeneca turned down a sweetened Pfizer cash and stock offer on Friday that amounted to 63 billion pounds ($106 billion), or about 50 pounds per share, saying it substantially undervalued the British drugmaker. The raised offer followed unsolicited Pfizer approaches in late April and January. Investors and analysts say Pfizer needs to raise its offer as high as 52 to 55 pounds per share to close the deal, as well as increase the cash portion to as much as 50 percent from around 30 percent.

By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot NEW YORK (Reuters) – Employees at Pfizer Inc's U.S. research centers, such as the La Jolla, California site that specializes in cancer drugs, may want to dust off their resumes if the company's proposed acquisition of Britain's AstraZeneca comes to fruition. Pfizer said on Friday it was determined to reach a deal that would restore its status as the world's biggest pharmaceutical company despite AstraZeneca's rejection of its latest cash and stock offer of 63 billion pounds ($106 billion). To reassure the British government about its proposal, Pfizer has promised the combined company would keep 20 percent of its research and development workforce in the country. It also vowed to complete construction of a research center planned by AstraZeneca in Cambridge, England, and retain a manufacturing plant in the northern town of Macclesfield.

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials on Friday confirmed the first case of an American infected with a mysterious virus that has sickened hundreds in the Middle East.