Ross Products parent records $30 mil. in Q4 from sale of Clear eyes eye drops, Murine eye drops and ear care products to Prestige Brands International. Deal was completed Dec. 30, according to Abbott, which says divested brands were profitable but no longer fit its strategic direction. Abbott expressed similar rationale for selling Selsun Blue dandruff shampoo line to Chattem last year (1"The Tan Sheet" March 11, 2002, p. 5). Sales for Ross division, which markets Similac infant formula and Ensure, Glucerna adult nutritionals, rose 3.4% in Q4 to $502 mil. but were flat for the year at $2.09 bil. During Jan. 16 analysts call, Abbott Medical Products Group President & COO Richard Gonzalez announces two "strategic introductions" for adult nutritionals segment in 2003 - Ensure in a plastic, reclosable container, and retail launch of Prosure, a product for weight loss in oncology patients that is currently available in the institutional segment...

Given its ever-growing role as a critical component of the global biopharma industry, you can’t afford not to be up to speed on Asia. This selection of recent insights from our experienced on-the-ground team will help.

Use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in cosmetic products appears to be declining, based on voluntary industry registrations with the US Food and Drug Administration. In any event, NGOs are gunning for PFAS' elimination, and the FDA says available data have yet to give a complete safety picture for PFAS used intentionally in cosmetics or present as impurities.