Novartis has presented new Phase III data at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) congress demonstrating the potential for its portfolio of once-daily inhaled therapies to help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to maintain more active and productive lives. Link: Click Here

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG) announced the results of the Phase II study TDM4450g in patients with previously untreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC). The study compared trastuzumab emtansine (also known as T-DM1) to standard treatment with Herceptin® (trastuzumab) plus docetaxel chemotherapy. Link: Click Here

Novartis announced new data today from the pivotal Phase III IMPRES clinical trial showing that the investigational therapy QTI571 (imatinib) significantly improved exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) after 24 weeks compared with placebo. Evidence indicates that QTI571 targets an underlying cause of PAH by counteracting uncontrolled growth of arterial smooth muscle cells. Link: Click Here

Myriad Group AG (SIX: MYRN), a global leader in mobile technology having shipped over 3.8 billion software applications on more than 2.2 billion phones, today announced that it is partnering with Vodafone Essar Ltd., one of India’s leading telecommunications services providers, to deliver social networking and messaging services over SMS and USSD to its subscribers across India. Link: Click Here

BKW: Following completion of the annual revision and optimising work on the inlet structure of Mühleberg nuclear power plant (KKM), BKW FMB Energy Ltd. (BKW) restarted the facility at the weekend. Prior to the restart, the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) approved the upgrades and authorised the facility's repowering. Link: Click Here

Novartis drug Afinitor helps women with advanced breast cancer live significantly longer without their disease progressing. A pivotal Phase III study shows Afinitor (everolimus) tablets plus exemestane, a hormonal therapy, more than doubled the time women lived without tumor growth (progression-free survival; PFS) and significantly reduced the risk of cancer progression by 57% versus exemestane alone in patients with advanced breast cancer. Link: Click Here


Economy
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IMF: The financial crisis as a catalyst for change. The international monetary system has always been the subject of not only intense discussions but also of profound change. Prior to World War I, capital flowed freely and the gold standard guaranteed stable exchange rates. Following the war, however, chaos emerged and led to a period of extensive capital controls that lasted until the beginning of World War II. Immediately after the war, a global system of fixed exchange rates was installed – the Bretton Woods System. Link: Click Here

If this is part 2 of the Great Recession, what were the 10 recent policy errors that got us here? When it was all academic, I enjoyed reading about the causes of the Wall Street Crash, the Great Depression and the German hyper-inflation.  Policy errors abounded. The UK going back on to the Gold Standard in the middle of the crisis and sending the economy down in to a deflationary spiral.  Andrew Mellon, US Treasury Secretary, saying “liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate…it will purge the rottenness out of the system” (and letting the banks go bust).  France demanding punitive war reparations from a desperately weak Germany, causing money printing and social unrest. Link: Click Here

France: Consumer confidence falls in September to its lowest level since February 2009 while unemployment fears increase. In September, French consumer confidence decreased to 80 in September, down 5 points from July. Since September 2007, consumer confidence has been below its historical average of 100. This suggests that households' confidence about the economic environment has deteriorated and is now just 3 points off the lowest level in 2008 of 77. Link: Click Here

EFSF - more delays in the offing. The statement from the G20 last night may have taken the edge of the current bitter market sentiment but the reassurances from the Finance Ministers lack substance.  Until politicians back their actions with words in respect to moving closer to a solution to the Eurozone debt crisis, markets will continue to worry about a messy and painful outcome from the Eurozone Debt crisis and flight to quality is set to remain the order of the day. Link: Click Here