Product A was about to go off-patent and become available as a generic, and we were trying to anticipate the effect this would have on sales of Product B, still on patent.

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In a letter to the Center for Reproductive Rights denying the petition, the FDA disclosed for the first time that Teva would have had three years of exclusivity for full non-prescription sales of Plan B One-Step if the application had been approved.

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But as King points out, approval of Viread for hepatitis B will likely cannibalize sales of Gilead's existing hep B drug, Hepsera.

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While sales of A-B's core brands are down 1% year-to-date, they've edged up in May, just ahead of the important summer selling season.

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And Congress is likely soon to require brokers to report to the Internal Revenue Service and to you not just the gross proceeds of securities sales (as they do now on form 1099-B) but also your cost basis.

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But B-to-B business decisions involve huge price points, long sales cycles, and can make or break careers.

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Teva Women's Health, which makes Plan B, said it would begin over-the-counter sales in a few months.

NPR: FDA: Morning-After Pill OK For Ages 15 And Up

Form 1099-B, long used to report stock and mutual fund-sales prices, will be expanded in 2011 (2012 for mutual-fund shares) to include the cost or other basis of stock and mutual-fund shares sold or exchanged during the year.

WSJ: Calculating Cost Basis to Get Easier

But with B-share holders calling the shots, such firms tend to underinvest, leading to lower sales growth and valuations than with single-share-class firms, according to a study by Harvard Business School's Paul Gompers, Stanford's Joy Ishii and Wharton's Andrew Metrick.

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In Europe, we expect Mercedes-Benz sales will be supported in the near-term by the launch of new M-Class and the new B-Class in November.

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The same-store sales reported last week showed strong January numbers, and the longer-term chart shows a solid uptrend (line b) and the breakout in 2011 above the 2007-2008 highs (line a).

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