Drugmaker | featured news

Saying the new H1N1 virus is "unstoppable", the World Health Organization gave drug makers a full go-ahead to manufacture vaccines against the pandemic influenza strain on Monday and said healthcare workers should be the first to get one.

J&J agreed to buy an 18.4% stake in Elan for $1 billion and acquire the rights to much of the Irish biotech company's research into drugs for Alzheimer's disease.

Pfizer Inc. is unveiling a new program Thursday that will let people who have lost their jobs and health insurance keep taking some widely prescribed Pfizer medications - including Lipitor and Viagra - for free for up to a year.

Drugmakers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. are planning to merge under the name Merck in a stock-and-cash deal worth about $41.1 billion.