Mr Hassan is good at cultural re-engineering: at Pharmacia, he was widely credited with smoothing feathers ruffled by an earlier transatlantic merger and bringing a sense of unity to the firm.

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If its sales soar and Merck can't come up with a Zocor replacement, the pressure could mount on Merck and Gilmartin to make Hassan an offer too good to refuse.

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His replacement in the 62nd minute Abdelhalim Aly could have made a good start but his effort from a Hossam Hassan pass went inches wide.

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