Content about Switzerland

VEVEY, Switzerland — Nestle is looking to boost its coffee business.

The company, which recently reported that its soluble coffee was a key growth driver during 2010 across all regions, said the combined performances of single-serve coffee brands Nespresso and Nescafé Dolce Gusto strengthened its leadership in the dynamic portioned coffee market. Nestle added that its Nespresso brand reached $3.24 billion in annual sales for the first time.

LUTRY, Switzerland — Nestlé Health Sciences completed its acquisition of a company that develops "medical foods" for such medical conditions as kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer.

BASEL, Switzerland — Swiss drug maker Novartis posted sales of $14.2 billion for fourth quarter 2010 and $50.6 billion for the year as a whole, according to an earnings report released Thursday.

That compared with sales of $12.9 billion and $44.3 billion during fourth quarter 2009 and 2009 as a whole, respectively. Profits for the year were nearly $10 billion, an 18% increase from $8.4 billion in 2009, though profits for the quarter decreased by 2%, from fourth quarter 2009’s $2.32 billion to $2.27 billion in fourth quarter 2010.

BASEL, Switzerland — Roche CFO Erich Hunziker will retire from the company at the end of March, the Swiss drug maker said Monday.

Hunziker was appointed CFO and a member of the corporate executive committee in 2001, and last year took on the additional role of chief information officer.

Alan Hippe, a former executive from German tire maker Continental and manufacturer ThyssenKrupp, will replace Hunziker as CFO.

BASEL, Switzerland — Novartis on Wednesday announced that its merger agreement with Alcon has been settled to the tune of $12.9 billion. The new $8.7 billion Alcon eye care division, which includes CIBA Vision and selected ophthalmic medicines, will be led by current Alcon president and CEO Kevin Buehler.

Shares of Novartis were up 7.6% to more than $60 in early morning trading.

"The full merger is the logical conclusion of our initial strategic investment in Alcon,” stated Daniel Vasella, Novartis chairman.

BASEL, Switzerland An investigative vaccine made by Novartis appears to offer good protection against meningococcal disease in infants, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial released Monday.

The Swiss drug maker said results of a phase-3 trial showed that Menveo (meningococcal group A, C, W135 and Y) induced immune responses in a high percentage of babies against four strains of the bacteria. Meningococcal disease occurs suddenly and can cause serious illness and often death during the first year of life.

BASEL, Switzerland Swiss drug maker Roche has bought the rights to an investigative treatment for hepatitis C, Roche said.

The company announced Thursday that it had purchased global development and commercialization rights to the drug RG7227/ITMN-191 (danoprevir) from InterMune for $175 million.

Roche said the drug had shown promise in preclinical and early clinical development. The two companies have been developing the drug since 2006.

HUENENBERG, Switzerland Eyecare company Alcon has launched a new drug for inflammatory eye conditions.

Alcon announced the launch of TobraDex ST (tobramycin, dexamethasone ophthalmic suspension) in the 0.3%/0.5% strength. The drug is used to treat inflammatory eye conditions treatable with corticosteroids and where bacterial infection or risk of infection exists.

BASEL, Switzerland Swiss drug maker Roche will acquire a U.S. diagnostics company that develops technology used to create images of patients’ tissue samples.

Roche announced that it would acquire all of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based BioImagene for $100 million. BioImagene works in the field of digital pathology, a technology that allows the capturing, management and analysis of images of patients’ tissue samples, creating high-resolution images from glass microscope slides.