Pharmaceuticals: Introduction

The Danish firm Novo Nordisk confirmed on Monday, January 30th its investment of 144.5 million dollars to employ about 100 academics and scientists to perform research and treatments for type 2 diabetes. This investment has helped raise the economic standard of the UK which has been on a decline since the announcement of the Brexit. The research will occur in Oxford, but any new treatments are likely to be developed and produced in Denmark. This will help both countries economically, and boost confidence for further investments. 

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., a corporation based in Quebec, is currently in talks to sell Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a company that manufactures gastrointestinal drugs. Valeant originally acquired Salix in March 2015 for $14.5 billion. The purchase was part of a growth strategy of buying pharmaceutical businesses with reputable products and cutting their research costs to maximize profits. However, Valeant lost much stock value over the past year due to unethical business activities, including price hikes, unreliable accounting, and secret collusion. Recently, the company undertook major efforts to change its leadership, settle its legal suits, pay off its debts, and re-establish growth. Selling Salix could be instrumental to these plans; just this week, news of the potential sale increased Valeant's stock by 34%. While prospective clients have been mostly kept anonymous, Japan's Takeda Phamaceutical Co. Ltd. has expressed public interest.