-Caveat Lector- "research budget of $2billion and a broader sales force TO PUSH EACH OTHER'S DRUGS" That's pretty honest, for an MSNBC report ;) MY research shows that this is the most profitable (legal) business in the U.S. (based on gross profit vs gross revenues) - and that DRUG companies tend to be also selling OTHER poisons, and are heavily into the genetically modified research/production biz. It's a terribly dirty business- easily linked to government corruption, phoney "science-made-to-order" reports, and a history of knowingly selling dangerous products... as well as using the FDA as a GOON SQUAD to try to stamp out inexpensive holistic health alternatives to often dangerous pharmaceuticals (3rd leading cause of DEATH in the U.S. = doctor-created illness (iatrogenesis.) Yes you read right. More people killed by doctors and pharmaceutical medicine than: aids, accidents, pneumonia, diabetes, stroke, ... As Konrad Kail, N.D. and Paul Bergner noted several years back in their AANP white paper on the impending health care crisis, an extrapolation of a 1981 study by Steele et all shows that iatrogenesis [doctor-caused harm] is likely the number 3 disease or cause of death! http://www.healthy.net/library/articles/naturopathic/art.natru2.pc.htm Adverse drug reactions alone kill over 100,000 people a year in the U.S http://www.nurseweek.com/news/98-4/20c.html Aspirine-like drugs are the 15th leading cause of death. http://www.marijuananews.com/aspirin_and_related_drugs_are_15.htm As you can see, we are paying DEARLY in more ways than one for "modern" medicine. NO ONE can hold a candle to MONSANTO in their BROAD spectrum approach to manufacturing and selling poisons and dangerous improperly rubber stamped by incompetent/corrupt FDA - products. The deadly excitoxin aspartame has a history worthy of a thriller book, and is still being sold despite over 10,000 individual consumer complaints to the incredibly corrupt FDA - more complaints than any other product, EVER... Monsanto has hired a few FDA investigators... payola must be sloshing all 'round. http://www.dorway.com/ Monsanto took a very big hit over the FrankenFood(tm) and Terminator Seed(sm) technologies. Hopefully more pressure will continue to be brought to bear against this heinous monster. http://www.asheville-computer.com/dave/altmedcon.htm Dave Hartley http://www.Asheville-Computer.com/dave Drug company merger http://www.msnbc.com/local/wood/2947.asp Pharmacia & Upjohn has signed a merger agreement with Monsanto. The deal creates the world’s 11th largest drug company with a cabinet of top-selling medicines to treat ailments from arthritis to glaucoma. The combined company, as yet unnamed, will have sales this year of $17 billion and 60,000 employees. The new company’s pharmaceutical business will be headquartered in Peapack, New Jersey where Pharmacia is based. The agricultural-chemical business will be headquartered in Monsanto’s hometown of St. Louis. This is the second drug merger in as many months. In November, American Home Products Corp. announced an agreement to acquire Warner-Lambert Co. That deal, however, is being challenged in court by a rival suitor, Pfizer Inc. The frenetic search for partners in the pharmaceutical industry is being driven by the need to finance research for blockbuster drugs, while facing pressure from political and consumer groups to keep prescription costs down. “Diversifying one’s risk is very important in pharmaceuticals,” said Fred Hassan, chief executive officer of Pharmacia & Upjohn. “This will give us the diversity we need.” The combined company will have a research budget of $2 billion, and a broader sales force to push each other’s drugs. Monsanto’s Searle division, which sells the popular arthritis treatment Celebrex, can be used to bolster next year’s launch of Pharmacia’s new antibiotic called Zyvox. The announcement Sunday ends Monsanto’s long search for a buyer. Robert Shapiro, the chairman and chief executive officer of Monsanto, has had at least three failed attempts to clinch a deal since October 1998, when Monsanto’s merger with American Home Products fell apart. Shapiro will be the non-executive chairman of the newly combined company for 18 months and then retire. Hassan will be the president and chief executive and assume the chairman’s title when Shapiro steps down. Monsanto has had trouble finding a partner because its agricultural-chemical business, which makes genetically altered seeds and weed killers like Round Up, is facing consumer backlash, particularly in Europe. Concerns about potential health risks from genetically altered foods have caused many manufacturers to rethink ingredients. Shapiro invested heavily over the past five years to build up Monsanto’s agricultural business, money that now seems poorly spent in light of the public outcry. Public concern is “clearly an issue, and we obviously are going to be working on that to resolve it,” Hassan said. “We are confident it can be resolved because the underlying science is very good.” However, he plans to sell 19 percent of the agriculture business in an initial public stock offering next year. The agricultural business will have a separate management team and board of directors. Combining the operations of Monsanto and Pharmacia will save the new company $600 million within three years. Hassan said there would be some layoffs, though he could not say how many. Shareholders of Pharmacia will receive 1.19 shares of Monsanto stock, worth about $50 based on Friday’s closing price, for each share of Pharmacia they hold. At that price Pharmacia shareholders won’t be getting a premium for their shares. Monsanto shareholders may also be disappointed with the terms of the deal. Monsanto shares rose Friday on rumors of the deal, as some investors anticipated their company would be acquired and they would get a premium for their shares. Monsanto shares are down 18 percent for the year. “It sounds like a decent combination, but there seem to be better potential partners for Monsanto,” said Jay Hickman, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston who follows Monsanto. Any rival bidder would have to hurdle the breakup provisions in the Monsanto-Pharmacia agreement, which include provisions that prevent a rival from receiving favorable accounting treatment and a $575 million penalty fee if the deal falls apart. Pharmacia and Monsanto will each have 10 seats on the new board of directors. Monsanto shareholders will own 51 percent of the combined company, which will have a market value of $50 billion. Pharmacia & Upjohn was created by the 1995 merger of Sweden’s Pharmacia and Upjohn of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The company then relocated its global headquarters to Peapack, New Jersey in 1997. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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