Zurich - Cytos Biotechnology said Tuesday a vaccine it was developing for hypertension has failed to show positive results and the company would scale back a significant amount of its workforce in response.

The company's stock was down over 33 per cent in mid-afternoon trading on the Zurich exchange following the announcement.

"The study results show that the vaccine was safe and well tolerated, but the new treatment regimen failed to induce a significant reduction of the ambulatory blood pressure," Cytos said in a statement.

Zurich - The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche would acquire German cell analysis firm Innovatis for 15 million euros, the two companies announced Monday.

"This acquisition is a further step in our strategy to strengthen our position as a complete solution provider in the cell analysis research market," Jurgen Schwiezer, from Roche's diagnostics division, said in a statement.

Zurich - Swiss Re said Friday it had finalized a deal to sell Berkshire Hathaway convertible bonds worth 3 billion francs (2.51 billion dollars), but that it had left open the option to buy back the paper should it be able to raise the needed funds.

Swiss Re announced net losses in 2008 of 864 million francs and incurred 5.9 billion francs in write downs on assets, following the financial crisis.

Zurich - Swiss Life has confirmed Friday that it is in talks with German insurer Talanx about its stake in MLP, a pension specialist.

The Swiss company, the largest insurer in the Alpine nation, owns about a quarter of MLP. According to reports, Swiss Life wants to reduce its stake in MLP.

"Swiss Life confirms that it is also holding talks with the Talanx Group in this regard. Discussions are still at a preliminary stage with no decisions taken," the company said in a statement posted on its Website.

Zurich - The Swiss central bank announced Thursday it would cut interest rates by 25 basis points to a target of 0.25 per cent in an attempt to shore up the economy and prevent deflation.

The use of the monetary policy by the Swiss National Bank would also involve buying up bonds and foreign currency to prevent further appreciation of the franc against the Euro.

Zurich  - European champions Spain maintained first place in the world football rankings issued on Wednesday by the ruling body FIFA, with Portugal back in the top