Dublin, Ohio (Jan. 25)—Cardinal Health (www.cardinal.com) agreed to sell its contract services unit, Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services (PTS), to The Blackstone Group (New York, NY, www.blackstone.com) for roughly $3.3 billion in cash. Blackstone is acquiring the PTS businesses that develop, manufacture, and package medication and other products for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The PTS segment employs roughly 10,000 at more than 30 facilities worldwide and generates $1.8 billion in annual revenue. In another move, Cardinal agreed to acquire SpecialtyScripts Pharmacy (Fall River, MA, www.specialtyscripts.com) to broaden its specialty pharmaceutical service offerings.

Washington, DC (Jan. 18)—The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC, www.ftc.gov) cleared the way for Hospira, Inc. (Lake Forest, IL, www.hospira.com) to acquire Mayne Pharma Limited (Melbourne, Australia, www.maynepharma.com), a specialty injectable pharmaceuticals company, subject to the divestiture of certain overlapping products. The companies expect the transaction to be completed during the first week of February.

Zurich (Jan. 16)—Nycomed (www.nycomed.com) was officially launched as a combined group, following the acquisition of ALTANA Pharma AG, which was completed on Dec. 31, 2006. Nycomed now will establish a new corporate headquarters in Zurich and integrate the two companies.

Saugus, MA (Jan. 16)—Jeff Worthington, a pharmaceutical sensory analyst, launched Senopsys LLC (www.senopsys.com), a company that partners with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and drug-delivery companies to improve pharmaceuticals' palatability.

Houston, TX (Jan. 15)—Tanox, Inc.'s (www.tanox.com) stockholders voted to approve its merger with Genentech, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA, www.gene.com). The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.

Copenhagen (Jan. 15)—Novo Nordisk A/S (www.novonordisk.com) will focus its research and development efforts on protein-based pharmaceuticals (building on its base in diabetes, hemostasis, and growth disorders) and will out-license its programs in small-molecule products. The decision to halt small-molecule research will eliminate approximately 180 R&D jobs.

Tustin, CA (Jan. 12)—Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.peregrineinc.com) established a foreign-owned enterprise in the People's Republic of China. The Beijing-based subsidiary will be called Peregrine Beijing Pharmaecuticals Technology Development Ltd.

Pompey, France (Jan. 9)—Groupe Novasep (www.novasep.com) was acquired for EUR 425 million by the management and a financial investor group composed of Gilde Buy Out Partners (Utrecht, Netherlands, www.gilde.nl), Banexi Capital Partenaires (Paris, www.banexicapital.com), and BNP Paribas (Paris, www.bnpparibas.com). Novasep will continue to operate through its two complementary divisions: Novasep Synthesis and Novasep Process.

Windsor, ON, Canada (Jan. 9)—The Qualicaps Group (www.qualicaps.com), a supplier of empty two-piece gelatin and non-gelatin capsules, signed an agreement to acquire empty gelatin capsule manufacturer Pharmaphil (Windsor, ON, Canada www.pharmaphil.ca).

London (Jan. 9)—SkyePharma PLC (www.skyepharma.com) plans to sell its injectable business to Blue Acquisition Corp. for more than $82 million.

Darmstadt Germany (Jan. 8)—Merck KGaA (www.merck.de) closed on its roughly CHF 16.6 billion ($13.3 billion) deal to acquire a majority stake in the European biotechnology company Serono (Geneva, Switzerland, www.serono.com). The integration of Serono provides Merck KGaA with a biopharmaceutical products portfolio with 2005 pro forma sales of around EUR 3.6 billion ($4.7 billion) and about 14,500 employees worldwide. Merck Serono S.A. will be combined with the current Merck Ethicals division and operate a division (headquartered in Geneva) of Merck KGaA's pharmaceuticals business. In the United States, the business will operate under the name EMD Serono. For efficiency reasons, the planned production facility for "Erbitux" (cetuximab) will be consolidated in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.

Pittsburgh, PA (Jan. 8)—Mylan Laboratories Inc. (www.mylan.com) completed its acquisition of roughly 51.5% of Matrix Laboratories Limited's (Hyderabad, India, www.matrixlabsindia.com) outstanding shares.

Castres, France (Jan. 8)—Pierre Fabre (www.pierre-fabre.com) acquired UCB's (Brussels, Belgium, www.ucb-group.com) over-the-counter business in France, Benelux, Switzerland, and Greece.

East Rutherford, NJ (Jan. 4)—Cambrex Corporation (www.cambrex.com) will hold a special meeting of shareholders on Feb. 5, 2007 to vote on the proposal to sell its Bioproducts and Biopharma subsidiaries to Lonza Group AG (Basel, Switzerland, www.lonza.com/group/en.html

St. Paul, MN (Jan. 2)—3M (www.3m.com) has completed the sale of its branded pharmaceuticals business in Europe to Meda AB (Solna, Sweden, www.meda.se). The transaction gives Meda the regional marketing and intellectiual property rights for many of 3M's branded pharmaceuticals.

Bristol, TN (Jan. 2)—Graceway Pharmaceuticals, LLC completed its acquisition of 3M's (St. Paul, MN, www.3m.com) branded pharmaceutical businesses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Latin America.

Berlin and Leverkusen, Germany (Dec. 29)—Bayer Schering Pharma AG officially was launched as a new company following the acquisition of Schering AG (Berlin, Germany) by the Bayer Group (Leverkusen, Germany, www.bayer.com). The name of the new company, Bayer Schering Pharma AG, was officially recorded as an entry in the commercial register on December 29, 2006, thus completing another important condition for combining Bayer's and Schering's pharmaceutical businesses. The combined pharmaceutical businesses of Bayer and Schering had 2005 proforma sales of more than EUR 9 billion ($11.7 billion). Bayer Schering Pharma AG, headquartered in Berlin, is to be managed together with Bayer's current pharmaceutical business as a division of the Bayer HealthCare subgroup.