Parsippany-based Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed Tuesday to acquire drugmaker Actavis Group, of Zug, Switzerland, for $5.6 billion, creating the third-largest global generics company in the world with $8 billion in anticipated 2012 revenue.

When pharmaceutical company Ipsen first announced plans to open a new headquarters on the East Coast in June, Sean McKercher, president and general manager of Ipsen North America, couldn't stop thinking about the ones who got away.

Hospitals have worked on their own for years to reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections seen each year, but several institutions that partnered with an insurer and an information technology company have found strength in numbers.

With hospitals and insurance groups forming coordinated care organizations, four physician groups have now banded together to maintain independence while being able to participate in a Medicare shared savings program.

New Jersey's unemployment rate won't begin to fall until the public sector engages business to target areas for sustainable economic growth, government officials and business leaders said Tuesday at Plan Smart New Jersey's regional planning summit on the draft state strategic plan.

Three accountable-care organizations won approval Tuesday to participate in the Centers for Medicaid Services' Shared Savings Program. The 27 groups in 18 states selected Tuesday join 32 "pioneer model" ACOs approved in December and six demonstration ACOs created in January 2011.

A certificate of need application filed by Hackensack University Medical Center and LHP Hospital Group Inc. to take ownership of Mountainside Hospital, in Montclair, was deemed complete by the state on Monday, with a public hearing scheduled for April 19, a Department of Health and Senior Services...

The pharmaceutical industry is built on asking — and solving — big questions of a scientific nature. But on Tuesday, industry representatives turned their microscopes to the business side of innovation, tackling questions about how to make their research, and the industry itself, sustainable for the long haul. Read More »