The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2383.5
points, after a 0.4 percent rise on Monday.Turnover rose on Tuesday, boosted by heavy trading in
Chinese dam builder Sinohydro Group , which closed up
17 percent on its market debt after rising nearly 40 percent
earlier in the day.
* First to seek approval as delaying disease progressionBy Alina SelyukhSILVER SPRING, Md., Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. health advisers
said they were unconvinced that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Ltd’s Parkinson’s drug Azilect slows the
progression of the incurable disease.Azilect is already approved as a Parkinson’s therapy, but
it is the first time a drugmaker has sought approval for
slowing the degenerative disease of the nervous system, instead
of merely masking its symptoms.The panel of experts convened by the Food and Drug
Administration were unanimous in their skepticism about the
result of Teva’s latest trial.”This is really going to be the flagship… and we have to
be very solid in this and set a very high standard,” said Dr.
Robert Clancy, one of the panel members and a neurologist at
the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “And this is close,
but it’s not good enough.”The advisory panel’s concerns were similar to those of FDA
staff reviewers, that were published last week.Azilect, generically known as rasagiline, is marketed by
Israel-based Teva and, in several countries, with Danish
partner Lundbeck .It already has FDA approval to treat symptoms of
Parkinson’s Disease, such as trembling limbs, stiffness, slow
movement and impaired balance. Teva is seeking an expansion of
Azilect’s label to include the slowed progression claim.The FDA will make a final decision on the label but usually
follows the advice of its advisory committees.In Teva’s latest trial, Parkinson’s appeared to deteriorate
more slowly in patients who started taking Azilect earlier than
in those who began later. But while the 1 milligram (mg) dose
appeared to slow the progression, the 2 mg dose did not,
overshadowing the results of the 1 mg trial under review.Much remains unknown about Parkinson’s, including its
causes, which has many researchers struggling to find a cure or
develop ways to measure the development of the disease.That complicated evaluation of Teva’s trial of Azilect as
it is hard to tell whether the drug was hiding the symptoms or
affecting the disease itself.”If you tell people in labeling that a drug has effect on
disease progression, you want to be sure that it does indeed
have an effect on disease progression,” Dr. Russell Katz, head
of the FDA’s neurology products division, told the advisers.Anywhere from 500,000 to 1.5 million Americans are
estimated to have the disease, and nearly 60,000 are diagnosed
each year, according to the Parkinson’s Action Network.That network, joined by five other major groups
representing the Parkinson’s patient community, had submitted a
written statement to the FDA advisory panel ahead of the vote.Acknowledging various concerns raised by researchers about
the conclusiveness of Teva’s trial, the groups said they were
encouraged by the evidence but realized the data was not yet
definitive and additional information was required.”Azilect is clearly the furthest ahead, but this is an area
of incredible research and need,” Michael J. Fox Foundation
Chief Executive Todd Sherer told Reuters ahead of the advisers’
vote.Azilect received FDA approval in 2006 for use as a single
drug therapy in early Parkinson’s and, in more advanced
patients, in addition to levodopa, a standard treatment for the
disease that alleviates the symptoms.Teva’s drug works by blocking the breakdown of dopamine, a
neurotransmitter chemical.The company declined to comment on the advisory panel’s
vote, which came after the regular close of the U.S. stock
market. Teva’s shares were little changed in afterhours trade
from their $39.29 close.
LONDON Oct 14 (Reuters) - Vista Equity Partners is facing
challenges financing its acquisition of Thomson Reuters’
trade and risk management software business, including flagship
product Kondor, banking sources said on Friday.Vista bought the businesses for more than $500 million in
cash in September after winning an auction. The private equity
company is trying to finalise a larger financing package than
originally envisaged, but the deterioration in market conditions
since August may limit the size of the loan, bankers said.Vista had agreed a $185 million of drawn debt with GE
Capital, ING, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Canada in September, but
subsequently tried to increase the amount of debt to $220-$230
million, which was in line with debt offered to rival bidders
Cinven, Bridgepoint and Montagu Private Equity, the bankers
added.Some of the four banks were unwilling to increase the size
of the financing due to market volatility. Vista is currently
approaching a wider group of banks after first talking to banks
that backed rival bidders.The financing was expected to be decided by early October,
but negotiations are still continuing, the bankers said.”Vista is struggling to get the higher amount of debt in
place,” one of the sources said.The level of debt Vista manages to raise will not affect the
acquisition itself, only the amount of equity Vista will have to
contribute.A final sale and purchase agreement for the proposed
transaction with news and information services provider Thomson
Reuters is expected to close by Jan. 31, 2012. Barclays Capital
acted as sole financial advisor to Thomson Reuters.The trade and risk management business operates under the
Thomson Reuters enterprise solutions business. Kondor provides
trade and risk software as well as liquidity risk systems for
treasury and cash management operations. Its main competitors
include Misys, SunGard and French software solutions company
Murex.Vista and GE were not immediately available to comment.
* Uncertainty continuing in pulp, fine paper markets* Forest sector shares fall
(Adds analyst comments, updates shares)By Jussi RosendahlHELSINKI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Finnish forest group
UPM-Kymmene cut its profit outlook after delivering
less pulp and fine paper in the third quarter than expected, and
warned of ongoing uncertainty in a sector struggling with low
demand and overcapacity.Shares in the world’s top graphic paper maker fell
7.4 percent by 1052 GMT, hurting the entire sector. Shares in
Finnish rivals Stora Enso and M-real fell
6.6 percent and 8 percent respectively.UPM said it now expected 2011 operating profit to fall from
last year. It had previously forecast profit improvement, and
analysts on average had expected a 3.3 percent increase,
according to Thomson Reuters Starmine.”The situation is weaker than feared. Uncertainty hits this
kind of bulk industry hard, the customers just don’t have the
courage to decide to buy paper,” said Katja Keitaanniemi, head
of research at Swedbank Finland.UPM had earlier said it expected slow demand for fine paper,
but the weakness of pulp sales was a surprise.”It looks like the pulp market has slowed quite fast, both
in Europe and China,” she said.UPM and its peers have been struggling with falling demand,
overcapacity and the rise of Chinese rivals. Sappi , the
world’s largest fine paper maker, said this month the fourth
quarter would likely be weaker than expected.Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA) for July-September were about 330 million
euros ($452 million), down 14 percent from a year ago and below
the 360 million euros forecast on average by analysts.UPM’s third-quarter sales of 2.6 billion euros,
however, were roughly in line with analysts’ expectations.Keitaanniemi said rival Stora Enso may
also post a profit warning when it reports third-quarter results
on Oct. 21, pointing to the fact it was “a million tonnes long
in market pulp” and that its wood product operations could
disappoint due to macroeconomic uncertainty.Yet she also said investors should take into account that
shares in UPM and Stora Enso are down some 40 percent this year.”They both have cash flow and profits and pay out
dividends. UPM’s energy assets might be worth more than the
listed company at this point,” she said.In addition to making paper and pulp, UPM is Finland’s
second-biggest electricity producer with total power capacity of
about 3,000 megawatts. It has a stake in nuclear consortium
Teollisuuden Voima as well as hydropower assets.($1 = 0.730 Euros)
Oct 12 (Reuters) - Bailed-out insurer American
International Group on Wednesday said it had taken out
$4.5 billion in new credit facilities from a syndicate of 34
banks, giving it more credit on better terms than the lines it
took out last year.AIG said it had established a four-year, $3 billion
facility and a 364-day facility of $1.5 billion. The four-year
facility includes the ability for AIG subsidiaries to take out
letters of credit as well.They replace nearly $4.5 billion in credit agreements AIG
and its property insurance subsidiary Chartis signed last
December, most of which were for less than a year.”These new credit facilities provide AIG and our
subsidiaries with financial flexibility on more favorable
terms,” AIG Chief Financial Officer David Herzog said in a
statement.J.P. Morgan and Citigroup acted as lead arranger.The credit arrangements come three years after AIG nearly
collapsed during the financial crisis, and barely a year after
the company and the government restructured its $182 billion
bailout.The U.S. Treasury continues to own 77 percent of AIG. AIG
shares, which rose 6.2 percent to $23.76 in regular trading,
were unchanged in after-hours trade on the news.
