CORRECTED - Moody's weighs ratings as drug-patent lapses near

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 10 - Moody's Investors Service on
Tuesday said a wave of patent expirations on blockbuster drugs
between 2010 and 2012 could lead it to begin lowering its
credit ratings on a number of large U.S. drugmakers several
years before then.




Eli Lilly and Co. , Pfizer Inc. and
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. are particularly vulnerable to
the downgrades because the top-selling drug of each expires in
that period.


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Moody's weighs ratings as drug-patent lapses near

(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co. , Pfizer Inc. and
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. are particularly vulnerable to
the downgrades because the top-selling drug of each expires in
that period.




Merck & Co. could also be adversely affected as two
of its important drugs face patent expirations.


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Total says still plans to sell Sanofi stake soon

(Reuters) - Its comment came after Sanofi and its U.S. partner Bristol-Myers Squibb on Tuesday won a U.S. trial upholding a patent on Sanofi's blockbuster bloodthinner Plavix.



"Our position on Sanofi has not changed since our annual general meeting last month," a spokeswoman at Total said, giving no further details on the timing of a sale.


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