AstraZeneca's blood thinning drug Brilinta cleared for US sale

US regulators have given approval to Brilinta, the blood thinning drug seen as AstraZeneca's biggest new hope, with sales expected to top $1bn (£613m) over the next five years.

While the Food and Drug Administration warned against using Brilinta together with high doses of aspirin, analysts said the clearance in the world's biggest pharmaceutical drugs market was key for the company. "It's a win Astra really needed," said Damien Conover, a Morningstar analyst.

Yell

A caption on yesterday'sarticle about Yell, the directories company that publishes the Yellow Pages, incorrectly implied that the group's print division was loss-making in the first quarter of its financial year. Although Ebitda earnings across the group fell during the three months to the end of June, they were positive at £109m.