Alza Corp to acquire Sequus
Alza Corp said that it had agreed to acquire Sequus Pharmaceuticals Inc in a stock swap valued at $580 million, joining two Silicon Valley-area pharmaceutical companies. Under the terms of the pact, Sequus shareholders will receive 0.4 share of Alza for each Sequus share in a tax-free transaction, the companies said in a joint statement.

German chemicalgrowth seen at 2%
Germany's leading chemical industry group said that two percent growth in the industry was possible next year. Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI) head Hans-DietrichWinkhaus said the chemical industry realistically could expand two per cent in 1999 if the broader domestic economy grows between 2.0 and 2.5 per cent.

China oil giants cut crude output
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and China National Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) have cut crude runs as part of efforts to push up flagging prices of oil products, the Market Daily said. The cabinet's State Economic and Trade Commission had ordered the cut, the newspaper said. Sinopec aimed to reduce the amount of crude processed by its refineries by a year-on-year 14.5 per cent in the third quarter of this year and 11.4 percent in the fourth quarter, it said without giving specific figures. Four petrochemical companies under Sinopec -- Cangzhou Refinery in northern Hebei province, Fujian Petrochemical Co in southeasternFujian province and Yueyang Petrochemical Co and Changling Petrochemical Co in central Hunan province -- had suspended operations, the newspaper said. Eight other Sinopec-owned companies had reduced their output, the newspaper said without elaborating. The eight were Jinling Petrochemical Co in eastern Jiangsu province, Anqing Petrochemical Co in central Anhui province, Jiujiang Petrochemical Co in central Jiangxi province, Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co in Shanghai, Tianjin Petrochemical Co in northern Tianjin city and Wuhan Petrochemical Co in central Hubei province.

India buys oil in October tender
Indian Oil Corporation has bought 50,000 tonnes of high sulphur fuel oil cargoes for end-October delivery, traders said. The first 25,000 tonne cargo of 3.5 per cent sulphur 180-centistoke (CST) fuel oil was awarded to Vitol at a $15.00 per tonne premium to the Singapore spot quotes, cost-and-freight (C-and-F) Vizag/Madras. The cargo was to be delivered during October 24-26. The second 25,000 tonne cargoof the same grade was awarded to Fal Oil at a $16 premium to the Middle East prices, C-and-F Goa/Bombay. The second cargo was for October 26-28 delivery, traders said. India has bought three fuel oil cargoes altogether for October, traders said. The previous one was a mid-October delivery cargo to Vizag which IOC bought from British Petroleum (BP) at a $13 premium to Singapore prices.

Japan ethylene output down
Japan's ethylene production in September fell 6.7 per cent from a year ago to 548,400 tonnes due to output cuts prompted by sluggish demand for petrochemical products, the trade ministry said. The following are Japan's monthly ethylene output results so far this year.

Protests disrupt Nigerian oil exports
A wave of protests by Nigerian youths to draw the attention of the military government has cut oil production by more than one fifth and disrupted crude exports from the West African country. Oil companies said the youths' grievance was with military ruler General AbdulsalamiAbubakar's government rather than with their own activities, which have frequently come under attack from locals for alleged pollution and ignoring demands for basic needs. The youths are demanding local government reforms to give their communities more access to power. Shell said it had opened talks to persuade the youths to allow operations to resume. "We're in consultation with them, negotiations are going on," a company spokesman told Reuters in Lagos.

Recent attacks on crude oil flow stations and pipelines in the southern Niger Delta have halted at least 440,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Nigeria's two million bpd output.

FDA rejects Eli Lilly's new drug
Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co said that federal regulators denied its application to market its schizophrenia drug Zyprexa as a treatment for manic depression. Lilly, which makes Prozac, the leading anti-depression drug, said it received a "nonapplicable" letter from the US Food and Drug Administration for use of Zyprexa to treat acute manic ormixed episodes associated with bipolar disorders. The news drove Lilly shares sharply lower in heavy trading. The company said, however, that it remained confident about the product and its safety, as well as its efficacy in treating bipolar disorders, in which patients suffer dramatic mood swings. "While we are disappointed with the FDA's decision, were main committed not only to treating the disease state of bipolar disorder, but also looking at additional clinical benefits of Zyprexa," August Watanabe, MD, Lilly's executive vice president for science and technology, said in a statement.

China fails to support domestic oil
China's latest effort to tighten oil policy shows again that Asia's biggest net importer of oil products is struggling to raise demand for domestically produced oil, analysts said. A year-long clampdown on imports and smuggling, as well as a more recent reduction in crude imports, has been capped now with a nationwide cut in refinery production in an effort to bolster pricesand reduce stocks. Analysts said the fact that China continues to tighten oil policy raised questions about how successful the smuggling campaign has been and more importantly to what extent the economy is growing. "Demand growth may not be as high as people are thinking,"said James Brown, regional energy analyst for Merrill Lynch. "As such, they (China) are shutting in capacity, trying to block out imports and yet still they are having to cut refinery runs," the Sydney-based analyst said. China National Petrochemical Corp (SINOPEC) cut refinery production 14.5 per cent in the third quarter and aimed to cut production in the fourth quarter 11.4 per cent, compared with the same periods in 1997.

New drug for migraine
Vanguard Medica Plc and its new partner, Ireland's Elan Corp Plc said that they were confident of their ability to promote new migraine drug Frovatriptan in the highly competitive and increasingly crowded North American market. Elan Finance Director Tom Lynch told Reuters in a telephoneinterview that clinical data from late-stage trials of the drug, part of a new class of migraine treatments known as triptans, had not yet been published but "will be seen as very compelling". "There are two components to launching successfully," Lynch said. "One is good clinical data and the second is the company that markets it has to have the standing and capability in that market. I would argue that Frovatriptan is that molecule and Elan is that company," Lynch said. Analysts believe Frovatriptan Vanguard, has a good clinical profile. Pertamina hydrocracker restartedIndonesian National oil company Pertamina said a 27,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) hydrocracker at its Dumai refinery had resumed operations on last Friday after being shut down on October 4 due to technical problems. "There was a technical problem on October 4 but we managed to repair it," said Samto Utomo, Pertamina's processing director.