Business: Pharmaceutical

INDIANAPOLIS - Eli Lilly & Co.'s winning bid of more than $6 billion for cancer drugmaker ImClone Systems means a billion-dollar payday for former rival bidder Bristol-Myers and vindication for corporate raider and ImClone Chairman Carl Icahn.

WHAT HAPPENED: Indianapolis-based drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. is buying the biotech firm ImClone Systems Inc. for more than $6 billion.

BOSTON/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co has agreed to acquire ImClone Systems Inc for $6.5 billion, outbidding Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and potentially bringing to a close one of the most colorful corporate sagas in biotech history.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly said Monday it had agreed a takeover worth 6.5 billion dollars with biotech firm ImClone, which is also a target for rival Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS).

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - ImClone Systems Inc is in talks to be acquired by Eli Lilly and Co , sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday, after ImClone had rebuffed a sweetened takeover offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co .

INDIANAPOLIS - Drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. reportedly is the secret suitor that's been courting ImClone Systems Inc. and is offering approximately $6.1 billion for the biotech company.

WASHINGTON - Congress has passed a bill intended to crack down on rogue online pharmacies that sell drugs without a valid prescription.

INDIANAPOLIS - Federal health regulators delayed a decision on a blood thinner from Eli Lilly for a second time Friday, raising concerns on Wall Street about the potential blockbuster medication.

LOS ANGELES - The state of California has a warning for its 36 million residents: Do not flush pharmaceuticals down the toilet or drain, or they may end up in a river near you.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Retailers that have rolled out low-cost generic prescription programs cannot rely on cheaper drugs alone to lure customers, especially if they skimp on good service, a new J.D. Power and Associates survey found.

INDIANAPOLIS - Eli Lilly and Co. aims to grow leaner and more diverse as it pushes to keep pace with changes spreading through the drug industry, CEO John Lechleiter said in a Wednesday afternoon speech.

WASHINGTON - In an industry first, Eli Lilly and Co. says it will begin disclosing how much money it paid to individual doctors nationally for advice, speeches and other services.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday warned pharmaceutical laboratories to stop marketing two unapproved products that have been linked to serious health problems.

NEW YORK - Big pharmaceutical companies and their biotech cousins will likely weather the financial crisis engulfing Wall Street, several analysts said, because of the necessity of their products and cash-rich balance sheets.

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Walgreen Co said on Monday it may launch a hostile takeover for Longs Drug Stores Corp if its smaller pharmacy chain rival fails to open merger talks.

TRENTON, N.J. - Pfizer Inc. is dramatically stepping up sales efforts in emerging markets, overhauling U.S. business operations and slashing more costs ahead of the 2011 patent loss for cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor, its head of pharmaceutical operations said Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Patients are more likely to choose a money-saving generic drug over more expensive branded medicines when using a home delivery pharmacy instead of a retail drug store, according to a study by Express Scripts Inc.

MUMBAI, India - India's largest pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories, said Wednesday that it will resolve problems that led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the import of more than 30 of its generic drugs.

YORBA LINDA (AFP) - The United States and China announced Tuesday a raft of trade agreements, including health care and pharmaceutical products, at the end of one-day bilateral trade talks in California.

WASHINGTON - The government closed U.S. borders Tuesday to more than 30 generic drugs — including popular antibiotics and cholesterol medicines — made by India's biggest pharmaceutical company, citing poor quality in two of its factories.

U.S. hospitals and long-term care facilities annually flush millions of pounds of unused pharmaceuticals down the drain, pumping contaminants into America's drinking water, according to an ongoing Associated Press investigation.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson's board vice chairman, Christine Poon, who also is worldwide chairman of its pharmaceuticals group, will retire from the company and the board on March 1.

ARTHUR, N.D. - As recently as three years ago, many elderly residents in this part of southeastern North Dakota were forced to order their medications by mail.

Testing prompted by an Associated Press story that revealed trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies has shown that more Americans are affected by the problem than previously thought — at least 46 million.

ALBANY, N.Y. - A New York judge threw out an indictment against five operators of a Florida pharmacy targeted almost two years ago in an investigation of illegal steroid sales over the Internet and by phone.

At least 46 million Americans are supplied drinking water that has tested positive for trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals, an increase from the 41 million people reported by The Associated Press in March.

WASHINGTON - Federal regualtors said Thursday one case of a deadly brain infection has been reported in a patient taking Genentech and Biogen Idec's blockbuster arthritis and cancer drug Rituxan.

TRENTON, N.J. - Just about every segment of the medical community is piling on the pharmaceutical industry these days, accusing drugmakers of deceiving the public, manipulating doctors and putting profits before patients.

BOSTON (Reuters) - ImClone Systems Inc said on Wednesday it has received a takeover offer of $70 a share from a large pharmaceutical company, topping an earlier bid of $60 a share from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and sending its shares up 7 percent.