■PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis to buy Corthera
Novartis AG agreed to pay US$120 million to buy closely held Corthera Inc, gaining a heart medicine that is in the final stage of clinical testing. Corthera’s shareholders are eligible for additional payments of as much as US$500 million if certain drug development and commercialization targets are reached, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The medicine, relaxin, is in the last of the three stages of testing generally required for regulatory approval. Novartis plans to seek US and European permission for use in acute decompensated heart failure in 2013.
■OIL
OPEC targets remain
OPEC held its year-old output targets unchanged, as the group grappled with overproduction by some in its ranks that could undercut efforts to support oil prices amid a fragile global economic recovery. OPEC wrapped up its meeting on Tuesday in Luanda, Angola, by deciding that the best plan of action was not to act. The 12-member bloc highlighted concerns about the strength of the global economic recovery, and again called on oil producers outside the group to cooperate in propping up oil markets.
■UNITED STATES
Economy limps forward
The economy limped forward at a 2.2 percent pace in the third quarter, according to government figures on Tuesday that suggest a tepid recovery from recession. The downward revision from last month’s estimate of 2.8 percent growth in GDP came primarily from a weaker contribution from business investment, as well as slightly slower consumer spending growth. The Commerce Department report confirms that the world’s biggest economy swung back to growth in the July-September period after four quarters of contraction in the worst recession in decades.
■MINING
Rio Tinto close to sale
Rio Tinto is close to finalizing the sale of its Alcan Packaging business to Amcor for US$2 billion — a big chunk of the mining giant’s plans to sell assets to slash its debt by more than US$10 billion. Rio Tinto said in a statement yesterday it was formally taking up Amcor’s offer to buy Alcan Packaging’s global pharmaceuticals, global tobacco and food divisions in Europe and Asia, under a deal first announced in August. EU antitrust regulators approved the plan earlier this month. The deal is awaiting clearance by US regulators.
■ENERGY
Solar project dropped
US solar power company First Solar Inc has dropped plans to develop a 150 megawatt solar power project in Colorado, the company said on Tuesday, shifting its focus to “higher priority projects.” The proposed project was part of the pipeline of utility-scale solar farms that First Solar acquired when it bought rival OptiSolar earlier this year. Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar is one of the world’s largest solar module makers and has more than 1.5 gigawatts of power projects in its pipeline.
■FOOD
Nestle halts in Zimbabwe
Swiss food company Nestle has suspended operations in Zimbabwe two months after pulling out of a deal to buy milk from a farm owned by President Robert Mugabe’s family, the company confirmed yesterday. A Nestle spokesman gave no explanation, but a source close to the matter said company executives were questioned by police this week.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source