drug development

In an update Tuesday, Pfizer said it is discontinuing 15 of the projects in its development pipeline. The news comes a month after the world's largest pharmaceutical company announced large research and development cuts were on the way.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis announced Tuesday that it had discontinued the development of two drugs -- the hepatitis C treatment Zalbin, and antifungal agent Mycograb. The company will take impairment charges of approximately $590 million in third quarter of 2010.

News that could affect stock prices today: Pfizer and India's Strides Arcolab reached an agreement that will expand the off-patent generic drugs in the U.S. drug maker's portfolio; Kraft's hostile takeover bid for Cadbury received conditional antitrust approval by the European Union.