The FINANCIAL -- AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) on November 16 announced results of a PLATO sub-analysis in the most serious type of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) patients, those with ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). In this setting, ST segment elevation indicates total obstruction of a coronary artery which warrants emergency surgery with angioplasty, a procedure termed primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention or “PCI,” in order to restore flow, salvage the heart muscle (myocardium) from infarction, and reduce mortality.

The FINANCIAL -- At the American Heart Association meeting on November 15, Merck & Co., Inc. said it is confident in the safety and efficacy profiles of ZETIA (ezetimibe) and VYTORIN (ezetimibe/simvastatin), and issued the following comment in response to misinterpretation of results from a small 200-patient imaging study called ARBITER 6.

The FINANCIAL -- GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA (GSK) and Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (Nabi) on November 16 announcedan exclusive worldwide option and licensing agreement for a nicotine conjugate candidate vaccine (NicVAX), an investigational vaccine for the treatment of nicotine addiction and the prevention of smoking relapse, as well as for the development of a second generation nicotine vaccine.

The FINANCIAL -- Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced on November 16 that the French drug agency Afssaps (Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé) has granted marketing authorization in France for Panenza, its non-adjuvanted Influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine, produced at Sanofi Pasteur’s facility in Val de Reuil, France.

The FINANCIAL -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) on November 16 announced it will split off its holdings in Mead Johnson Nutrition Company.