Pfizer asked to take painkiller Bextra off the market
New York: The painkiller Bextra was taken off the United States and the European Union market on Thursday by Pfizer Inc at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European regulators.

The US regulator said that other drugs in the same class should carry the strongest possible warnings about increased risk of heart attack and stroke among the millions of people who rely on them.

Pfizer said that the FDA, in seeking Bextra's withdrawal, cited a risk of serious skin reactions to Bextra on top of the risks shared by other similar drugs. The FDA also wanted other drugs in the same class, such as Celebrex and Vioxx, to carry the strongest possible warnings about increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

The FDA has been studying the safety of the so-called Cox-2 inhibitors since Merck & Co voluntarily pulled Vioxx from the market on September 30, 2004 after heart problems were reported in some users.

Once blockbuster sellers, the painkillers were particularly popular among arthritis sufferers.

Pfizer said it "respectfully disagrees" with the FDA regarding the overall safety of Bextra and plans further discussions with the government about the possibility of returning Bextra to the market.
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Crude futures fall as US stockpiles jump
Singapore: Crude futures fell for the fifth consecutive day today, as light, sweet crude for the May contract fell 21 cents to USD 53.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Asia. Heating oil prices dropped marginally to USD 1.5195 a gallon.

Gasoline futures dropped nearly 11 cents in overnight trading yesterday, its biggest one-day decline since December 27, before recovering to USD 1.57 a gallon, a decline of 8.9 cents.

The sell-off came even as the US Energy Department yesterday said that the nation's gasoline production had jumped 5.2 per cent last week to its highest level this year. The country's gasoline stockpiles were also 5.7 per cent higher than a year earlier, according to the department's report.
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MG Rover to go into receivership
London City: Cash-strapped British car manufacturer MG Rover Group is going into financial administration after a proposed takeover deal with a Chinese firm fell through.

Production was suspended at Rover's Longbridge plant on Thursday.

MG Rover called on the British government to firm up its offer of a 100 million pound bridging loan to keep the company solvent and assist the proposed deal with Shanghai Automotive Industrial Co (SAIC). MG Rover executives and British government officials have been in China holding emergency talks with SAIC.

MG Rover employs more than 6,000 people and its troubles come at a sensitive time for the British government, with a general election just four weeks away.
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