| AstraZeneca 4Q profit rises 17 percent
AstraZeneca PLC said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit rose 17 percent, boosted by strong sales of its top five products and cost cutting. But the company said its focus remained on strengthening its weak pipeline of future drugs. The company, which is facing patent challenges and escalating generic competition, also said that it plans to cut 3,000 jobs over the next three years despite predicting continued sales momentum this year. Net profit for the three months to Dec. 31 was $1.4 billion, up from $1.2 billion a year earlier, AstraZeneca said. Revenue rose 14 percent to $7.2 billion. For the full year, profit rose 28.5 percent to $6.04 billion, while sales lifted 11 percent to $26.8 billion. The 2006 results were driven by a 23 percent increase in combined sales of its five key products -- heartburn drug Nexium, schizophrenia treatment Seroquel, cholesterol-lowering treatment Crestor, asthma drug Symbicort and breast cancer treatment Arimidex -- to $13.3 billion.
How Will Brewers' Outfield Play Out?
When the temperature is stuck on the over / under for Bucks victories for the rest of the season and there is no football this weekend, it's comforting to know that four of the sweetest words of the winter - pitchers and catchers report - are just three weeks from happening.
So while adjusting your mental clock to Maryvale time, here are a few Brewers items to digest between now, the onset of Super Bowl Sunday acid indigestion, and the start of spring training.
Bill Hall will be the new guy in center once he is paid, Corey Hart will start in one of the corners and someone will have to go in the overcrowded outfield. And it might not be Geoff Jenkins, despite all the drama that accompanied what was basically accepted as Jenkins' final home appearance in a Brewers uniform last season.
Survey Finds Number One Food Super Bowl Fans Are Burning to Eat on ...
CINCINNATI, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new survey of Super Bowl fans finds that the most-wanted foods for game-day may also be the ones most likely avoided -- all due to heartburn. Eighty-percent of frequent heartburn sufferers surveyed said that food is a must have at a Super Bowl party, and that the top three favorites on game day were pizza, nachos and potato chips. Many also said that they already avoid spicy (66%), greasy (57%) and tomato- based foods (39%) -- meaning that the best-loved snacks could also be left on the buffet. Furthermore, heartburn sufferers said the one food they would love to be able to eat on Super Bowl Sunday, without worrying about heartburn, would be pizza, followed closely by hot wings and chili. Now, Jeanne Benedict, entertaining expert from the DIY network has joined forces with Prilosec OTC, the number one selling OTC heartburn medicine to help frequent heartburn-suffering fans have a chance at being heartburn-free up to and through Super Bowl.
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