Guidant's planned acquisition of minimally invasive cardiac surgery device maker CardioThoracic Systems for $313 mil. in stock provides greater access to cardiac surgeons as well as a platform for growth in the cardiac surgery market.

After urging the US Congress to act on updating Medicare Part D, the Association for Accessible Medicines has welcomed the decision to update Part D by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr Reddy’s signals a sharp step up in ambitions at home, propelled by building leadership in 10 therapy segments and an “India-first” approach for specialty products. Uptick in the China business and the potential launch of a Russia-partnered COVID-19 vaccine were other aspects of the business discussed at JPM.