Recently, Novartis AG (NVS) announced that it has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) for QAB149 (indacaterol) − a bronchodilator for the treatment of adults suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) − from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The US agency has asked for additional information on the proposed dosing of the drug. Novartis had filed for the US approval of the drug in December last year.  Last month, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended the approval of QAB149 in the European Union to treat COPD patients as a once-daily therapy with two doses (150 micrograms and 300 micrograms). The positive opinion from the CHMP is a boost to Novartis as it aims to be a strong player in the field of respiratory medicine. Currently, the market is dominated by big players such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca (AZN) ...

Reynolds American (RAI), manufacturer of four of the top 10 best-selling cigarette brands in the United States, reported its second quarter results. The company reported earnings of $1.29, and beat expectations by $0.14. Despite the strong performance of the Conwood business and market share gains of brands like Camel, Pall Mall and Grizzly, net sales declined 3.8% year-over-year to $2.3 billion. The company’s cigarette shipment volume declined 6.0% due to wholesale inventory reductions associated with the Federal tax increase and also due to lower volume from the company’s non-support brands. During the quarter, industry cigarette volume declined 4.1%. The company’s growth brands, Camel and Pall Mall, gained a strong cigarette market share of 2.6 percentage points, bringing their combined share to 12.7%. This drove the company’s total cigarette market share to 28.7%, up 0.4 percentage points. Camel, the company’s flagship brand, had a market ...

Philip Morris International (PMI) entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of privately owned Colombian cigarette manufacturer Productora Tabacalera de Colombia, Protabaco Ltda. (Protabaco), for $452 million. Protabaco is the second largest tobacco company in Colombia, with an estimated volume of 6.1 billion cigarettes and an approximate market share of 31.8% in 2008, with leading brands such as Mustang, Premier and President. The acquisition is believed to be a strategic business fit, in order to build on the company’s business in Columbia. The deal is expected to be marginally accretive to PM’s earnings and is expected to close in the second half of 2009. However, final approvals are still pending. In 2005, the company had acquired another Columbian company, Compañía Colombiana de Tabaco S.A. (Coltabaco). In addition, with increasing regulation over tobacco, there has been a shift towards smoke free tobacco products ...

The Board of Directors of Walgreens (WAG) approved a 22.2% quarterly dividend increase from 11.25 cents to 13.75 cents, payable on September 12, 2009, to shareholders on record as of August 21, 2009. The annualized dividend is raised to $0.55 from $0.45 per share.

The dividend increase is testimony of the company’s confidence in its key growth strategies and its ability to generate strong cash flow going forward. WAG is the largest national retail pharmacy chain in terms of revenue and profitability and has paid a dividend in 307 straight quarters (more than 76 years) and raised its dividend for 34 consecutive years. The company has increased its dividend by an average compound annual rate of more than 21% over the last five years. The company operated 6,902 drug stores in 50 states in the U.S. and Puerto Rico as of June 30, 2009.

The company reported strong third-quarter sales increasing

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