Nestlé, the world's biggest food group, is closing in on a deal to buy Pfizer's baby food business for up to $10bn (£6bn) to boost its business in China and extend its lead in the world of formula milk.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, the New Jersey-based drug manufacturer, did not even wait for dawn before trumpeting its first shipments yesterday of Lipitor, the cholesterol-lowering pill that became the world's biggest selling medicine.

The makers of Nurofen Plus recalled the tablets last night and confirmed sabotage was suspected in packets of the painkillers.

The Government's second tranche of Enterprise Zones looked like a half-decent answer to yesterday's gloomy statistics showing unemployment at 2.5 million and rising at its fastest rate since the recession. Sadly, the case is unconvincing.

Drugs giant Pfizer is to retain around 350 jobs at the site of its doomed leading UK research centre, it has been announced.

The blue-chip index may have closed last night at its lowest level for nearly three months, but Tui Travel was sunning itself at the top of the leaderboard following renewed speculation the tour operator could be in line for an approach.

Falling sales of Pfizer's key cholesterol drug, Lipitor, in the face of generic competition hit sales at the American pharmaceuticals giants in the first quarter.

Novartis dealt a fresh blow to the pharmaceutical sector yesterday by unveiling moves to shed around 500 jobs at its Horsham site in West Sussex.

Drugs giant Pfizer is in "detailed" talks with research companies about possibly salvaging jobs threatened by the closure of its leading UK research centre, a report says.

The Obama administration is wooing Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, as a potential Commerce Secretary, as the President seeks to strike a more business-friendly tone.

A radical plan to end the "madness" of wasteful and pointless research by rival drug companies was outlined today.

The pharmaceutical sector suffered a blow this week when the US drug maker Pfizer announced the closure of its research and development site at Sandwich in Kent, putting around 2,400 jobs at risk.