Helen Kelleher talks to Ken Murphy of CareerWise Recruitment

Betty O’Donovan, occupational health nurse, AbbVie, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork

Drugmaker Allergan has said it remains "committed to Ireland" despite agreeing to be bought by US rival AbbVie in a $63bn (€55.3bn) deal.

Climate change and energy efficiency were not a priority for many businesses when Cork firm Verde LED began in 2010.

US stocks powered to their biggest gain in almost nine months as drugmakers and technology companies surged.

The number of students offered college places in the early stages of the Central Applications Office (CAO) process is up 7.5% on last year.

Lisa Salmon says it’s better to get checked out than put it off

Pharmacy companies paid out €27.2m in payments to individual healthcare professionals, payments to healthcare organisations and on research and development last year, it has been confirmed.

Pfizer is negotiating a 2%-3% break-up fee with Allergan that would be in line with most deals, according to sources, a sign of confidence such a merger could overcome regulatory hurdles.

Disney magic: This Christmas, Disney Store is asking families across Ireland to participate in its ‘From Our Family to Yours’ campaign, supporting children in hospital. 

Dublin-headquartered Horizon pharmaceutical has agreed to buy Hyperion Therapeutics for $1.1bn (€1bn) to gain drugs to treat rare metabolic diseases, adding to this year’s surge in pharmaceutical- industry takeovers.

AstraZeneca, which saw off a €95bn bid from Pfizer in May, said quarterly results showed its stand-alone strength, while recent US tax changes removed much of the case for a new takeover attempt.

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Shire CEO Flemming Ornskov was preparing for a meeting in Chicago on the integration of his company with AbbVie when he got the news that AbbVie was reconsidering the $52bn (€40bn) takeover.

AbbVie and Shire agreed to terminate what would have been the biggest US tax inversion after AbbVie pulled its support for the deal in the wake of proposed changes to US rules governing such transactions.

US drugmaker AbbVie has pulled the plug on its plan to buy Dublin-based Shire, recommending shareholders vote against the planned $55bn (€42.96bn) takeover after new US tax rules.

Chicago-based AbbVie has said it is reconsidering its $55bn (€43.4bn) takeover of Shire weeks after the US government moved to curb deals designed to reduce tax, wiping $13bn off the London-listed firm’s stock price.

US treasury secretary Jacob Lew said the department is finishing work to limit the benefits companies gain from moving their addresses overseas even if his action won’t be enough to stop the practice known as inversion.

Nearly 18,500 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) worth $1.7trn (€1.28trn) have been completed this year.

AbbVie, the drugmaker buying Dublin-based Shire plc to lower its tax rate, reported profit that beat analysts’ estimates on strong sales of the arthritis drug, Humira.

US biopharmaceutical firm, AbbVie has agreed to buy rival group, Shire for almost $55bn (€41bn), becoming the latest American healthcare company to shift its tax residence abroad in a record surge in industry deals.

Mylan is buying Abbott Laboratories’ generic-drug business and forming a new company that will be incorporated in the Netherlands, giving the new operation a lower- cost tax base.

AbbVie Inc moved a step closer to buying Shire Plc after the Dublin-based company said it is willing to back a fifth offer of £31.4bn (€39.4bn) just four days before the deadline to strike a deal.

Salix Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy the patents to some drugs for gastrointestinal diseases from Cosmo Pharmaceuticals for about $2.7bn (€1.98bn) in stock in a deal that will allow the US company to move to Ireland and lower its tax bill.

AbbVie has said its $46.5bn (€34.1bn) bid for Shire plc offers "compelling" value for Shire shareholders and that it won’t rule out going hostile in its drive to acquire the drugmaker.

Irish-headquartered biopharma company, Shire flagged the promise of existing and new drugs yesterday as evidence that US giant AbbVie’s $46bn offer undervalued the company — the latest British firm to be targeted by a US group seeking lower taxes.

Shares in Shire hit a record high yesterday on expectations of a takeover as dealmaking sweeps the drugs sector, after Reuters reported the group had hired investment bank Citi as a defence adviser.

AbbVie is to manufacture one of the world’s newest blockbuster drugs following an €85m expansion at its plant in Sligo.