A new Thomson Reuters study has named the most promising drugs launched or approved during the first quarter of 2008.

A Decision Resources survey reported that the type 1 diabetes market will be shifting to rapid-acting and long-acting insulin analogues that include those currently marketed by Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly & Co and Sanofi-Aventis. Further details.

Irish biotech firm Elan shares jumped 37 percent over the past month after partner Wyeth unveiled promising mid-stage trial results for their experimental Alzheimer’s drug bapineuzumab. Cowen analysts forecast the promising drug might hit the $7 to $8 billion mark in 2015, peaking as high as $12 billion in 2015-2020

Merck & Co shares slumped 5 percent following the disclosure of a UBS research note unveiling weaker-than-expected Gardasil sales. UBS downgraded the company shares to neutral from buy

New data confirming the Erbitux cancer drug only works in a reduced number of bowel-cancer patients have prompted Merck KGaA shares to drop an additional 4.5 percent after the 1.9 percent fall earlier this week. Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to “underweight” from “equal-weight”

Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co could be an acquisition or merger target within the next three or four years, according to Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson´s letter to clients today.

Swiss giant Novartis AG announced it plans to start human trials of an experimental drug for dengue in 2009, researchers announced at the International Congress on Infectious Diseases. If research ends successfully, by 2012 Novartis will be providing the medication at no profit in countries where the illness is endemic. Further details.

U.S. drug maker Abbott Laboratories Inc will be boosting its pharmaceuticals division in Japan with the launching of rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, aiming for $ 1 billion dollars in sales for 2010, stated head of Abbott Japan Glenn Warner in a news conference.

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb, one of the world’s largest drug companies, plunged to 6-year low as a slew of analysts voiced concern over two of the company’s experimental diabetes drugs. Further details

A study to be released next week may show ImClone’s monoclonal antibody Erbitux helps non-small cell lung cancer patients live longer. The $10,000.-a-month treatment, has been cleared for use against advanced colorectal cancer and for head and neck cancer. If the study concludes Erbitux is effective, ImClone’s product could be vieing for market share against Genentech’s blockbuster lung cancer therapy Avastin

Glaxo’s experimental cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix may take longer than Wall Street’s 2009 forecast to hit the markets. Several reasons could set back as much as 5 years the vaccine’s launch, throwing off Wall Street’s revenue outlook for U.K.’s key drugmaker. A Morgan Stanley analyst downgraded Glaxo from “Equal Weight” to “Underweight”

Biotech ImClone Systems Inc will be unveiling positive lung cancer survival data next week from a study with its blockbuster drug Erbitux, approved for treating colorectal, head and neck cancers, despite a negative forecast last week by market analysts Morgan Stanley. Further details.

Citigroup Inc. has published a report stating that many of the giant U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies are considering long-term contracts with their Asian counterparts rather than the one-time supply deals that had been the norm. The preferred countries for these strategic and financial options are China and India, said the report.

Analysts expect Merck to get a boost if U.S. health regulators approve Cordaptive, its novel drug to raise HDL cholesterol. The approval seems imminent and Merck’s confidence is running high

Germany's largest drugmaker Bayer AG can fault its first-quarter profit decline to a one-time gain from the sale of assets in 2007, market analysts have forecast.

Merck & Co. reported that their first quarter profit nearly doubled to $ 3.3 billion dollars over last year’s first quarter – as a result of a $ 1.4-billion dollar after-tax gain from a limited partnership with AstraZeneca Plc, while in actual sales the increase was only one percent. Further details.

Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co. Ltd. reported the company would be falling into the red for the first time ever due to its acquisition of U.S. cancer specialist MGI Pharma this year for $ 3.9 billion dollars, but it forecast a return to a profit of $ 540 million dollars during the current business year. Further details.

Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca launched an unprecedented research program to determine its Crestor cholesterol pill is more effective than Pfizer’s rival drug Lipitor, the world’s top-selling medication. As the program enters its final phase, the drugmaker must convince insurers to buy Crestor to be well prepared when generic versions of Lipitor flood the market in 2010

Takeda shareholders may not be too happy with Takeda’s mega-deal, the purchase of U.S. Millennium and its top drug Velcade: Japan’s top drug company won’t gain enough new revenue to counter generic competition to its two major drugs –antiacid Prevacid and diabetes pill Actos- that will come off-patent in 2009 and 2011. Analysts, however, place their bets on Velcade, hailing it as a potential billion-dollar blockbuster. More details

Still amid very unclear and continually confusing reports of number of deaths attributable to Baxter’s blood thinner heparin, it appears the market does not lose faith in the company - Baxter’s shares held steady this week, and even rose.