Over 3,000 units of Sterimar, Church & Dwight's saline nasal spray in the UK, are mistakenly released then recalled due to soil bacteria contamination of weakly pathogenic organisms

Glaxo anxious to sell remaining OTC brands after Prestige buys 17 US brands on block; ex-US sales likely to be fragmented.

Novartis follows Sanofi's playbook looks for $2-3 billion bolt-on acquisitions of OTC and vet businesses so as a gain scale.

Following a strong 483 warning last year emanating from the FDA inspection of its Nebraska plant Novartis has closed the plant and recalled OTC brands; many of the FDA concerns centered around faulty consumer complaint handling and follow up; consumers may wish to continue to trust store brand options, not branded products

J&J recalls multiple lots of Motrin IB tablets and caplets due to failed dissolution tests in later stages of their stability program; facts suggest a long standing problem in tablet compression, coating or formulation; manufacturing site in Puerto Rico operating under a consent decree

Prestige Brands buys 17 US OTC brands from Glaxo for £426 million, or 3.5x sales, or about 50% of the sales on the block; brands include:  BC, Goody's, Beano, Ecotrin, Fiber Chocie & Tagamet.  Ex-US brands and Alli remain undivested.  Prestige uses debt leverage at nearly 5x EBITDA to finance transaction