Lonza announced today an agreement with a South Korean Biotechnology company, ImmuneMed, Inc. for the in silico screening followed by deimmunization of their Virus Suppressing Factor (VSF), under investigation for the treatment of viruses such as the encephalomyocarditus, influenza and hepatitis. Link: Click Here
 

BKW: Acquisition of two wind farms in Germany. BKW is to acquire two wind farms, Holleben and Bippen, from Germany's leading wind project developer and wind farm operator wpd of Bremen. The two wind farms have a collective installed capacity of 53 Megawatts (MW). The acquisition expands BKW's foreign wind portfolio to 270 MW and strengthens its position in the field of wind power. Link: Click Here

Roche today announced results from CLEOPATRA, the first randomised Phase III study of the investigational HER2-targeted medicine pertuzumab. The study compared the combination of pertuzumab, Herceptin (trastuzumab) and docetaxel chemotherapy to Herceptin and docetaxel alone in people with previously untreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC). Link: Click Here

Novartis: Updated results of a Phase III study of Afinitor® (everolimus) tablets plus exemestane, a hormonal therapy, show everolimus provided additional time women with advanced breast cancer lived without their disease progressing (progression-free survival). Link: Click Here

Julius Baer: The Board of Directors of Julius Baer Group Ltd. will propose Gilbert Achermann, Chairman of the Boards of Directors of both Straumann Group and Siegfried Holding, and Andreas Amschwand, former Group Managing Director of UBS, for election as new members of the Board at the Annual General Meeting on 11 April 2012. Current Board member Peter Kuepfer has decided not to seek re-election after his fifth term in office. Link: Click Here

Swiss Life: Carsten Maschmeyer resigns from the Board of Directors. Carsten Maschmeyer has taken the decision to step down from the Board of Directors of Swiss Life Holding Ltd with immediate effect and, at the same time, to reduce his equity stake in Swiss Life Holding Ltd from 5.05% to under 3%. Link: Click Here

Zurich appoints Jeff Dailey to member of the Group Executive Committee. Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) today announced that Jeff Dailey (54, U.S. citizen) was appointed to a member of the Group Executive Committee effective January 1, 2012. He is currently President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Farmers Group, Inc. Link: Click Here



Economy
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2011 Credit Suisse Worry Barometer - Focus on Unemployment and the Economy. The current uncertainty about the economy is also reflected in the 2011 Worry Barometer. In 2011, the Swiss are more worried about the state of the economy than ever before. Anxiety about issues relating to foreigners is also at a higher level again, as was the case in 2007. Confidence in most political, business, and society decision-makers has fallen, and values are similar again to 2009. Link: Click Here

A cautious step forward. We think it is time for investors to dip their toes in the water and begin to re-engage in measured and careful risk-taking. Prospects for avoiding either a double-dip recession or a catastrophe surrounding the euro area debt crisis have improved somewhat over the past couple of months. Link: Click Here

As good as it gets? US data have been strong relative to economists' and investors' expectations and compared to global data. Evidence that Europe has entered recession is mounting and in the emerging economies questions are being raised about whether policy-induced slowing can now be arrested through policy easing. Link: Click Here

Italy: Disappointing October IP suggests downside risks to Q4 GDP growth forecasts. Industrial production disappointed in October. On the month, it declined -0.9% m/m below our (0.0% m/m) and consensus (-0.3% m/m) forecasts. The decline came after a sharp contraction of -4.6% m/m in September, a print which was upwardly revised from -4.8% m/m previously estimated by ISTAT. Link: Click Here

French trade deficit narrows in October thanks to agricultural products sales. The French trade deficit narrowed to EUR6.2bn in October, slightly above our and consensus expectations (EUR6.0bn) after EUR6.6bn reported in September (revised from EUR6.3bn), most notably owing to agricultural sales, as indicated by the official release from French customs. Link: Click Here

UK industrial production sees sharp fall in October. The industrial sector reported further weakness in October. Industrial production fell more than expected, by 0.7% m/m (consensus: -0.3%, BarCap: -0.3%) after being flat the previous month. Manufacturing also fell by 0.7% m/m (consensus: -0.3%, BarCap: -0.1%) compared with a downwardly revised increase of 0.1% previously, as eight of the 13 manufacturing sub-sectors reported monthly falls in output. Link: Click Here