Washington - A Florida pharmacy that mixed medication for 21 polo horses before they mysteriously died over the weekend said Thursday it incorrectly mixed the substance, the Palm Beach Post reported online.

The horses, which belonged to the Venezuelan team La Lechuza owned by Venezuelan multimillionaire Victor Vargas, died shortly before a quarter-finals match was to begin Sunday at the 105th US Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida.

Geneva - The Swiss drug maker Novartis said Thursday its first quarter profits were down 14 percent, to 2 billion dollars, but still better than expectations that the fall would be worse.

The Basel-based company said its net sales stood at 9.7 billion dollars, down 2 per cent, but if valued in local currencies, this was an 8 per cent increase.

Basic earnings per share were at 87 cents in the first quarter compared to 1.02 dollars in the same period in 2008.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, an emerging global pharmaceutical company, has finally launched RedisparT (Doxercalci) in Indian market.

According to a press release, RedisparT is the first pro-vitamin D2 to be available in the country, which is used in the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) due to chronic kidney disease.

In addition, the drug is also used to maintain the parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcium levels in the body in chronic kidney disease patients.

Under its UNITAID-funded projects, the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) has named Matrix Laboratories Limited as the primary supplier of five antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs, which are used in the secondline treatment plans.

Moreover, the India-based unit of Mylan has also been selected as the main supplier of seven anti-retrovirals (ARVs) used for pediatric treatment.

Matrix's second-line products chosen for the 2009 UNITAID-CHAI projects comprise heat-stable Lopinavir/Ritonarvir.

A recent scrutiny of drug-manufacturer Cipla's Bangalore plant by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed as many as nine deviations in the pharma firm's manufacturing process.

With the reports about the digression found at the plant, the shares of Cipla suffered a blow at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), as well as the National Stock Exchange (NSE), on Monday. Despite the company justifying its stand and terming the deviations as "minor ones" relating to manufacturing practices, the stock fell at the BSE.

World's two biggest drug companies GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Pfizer Inc. will join hands to create a new company exclusively for developing and selling of HIV medicines. Both companies made announcement of the new venture on Thursday. The name of the company will be announced after the finalization of the deal. The new company will be based in London.