Sanofi-Aventis has made a series of changes within its top-level executive ranks, including the appointment of Jean-Pierre Lehner, MD, as chief medical officer; Laurence Debroux as chief strategic officer; and named Elias Zerhouni, MD, as scientific advisor to its CEO Christopher A. Viehbacher and to its senior vice president of research and development, Marc Cluzel.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) reported a decline in its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter net income, and confirmed that itplans tocut more jobs over the next two years.

Patients with high cholesterol levels who continually take statins appear to have a lower risk of death, regardless of whether they already have diagnosed heart disease, according to a report of a 4.5-year follow-up in the Feb. 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

The use of CT advanced visualization software enables the safe and effective placement of fiber-coated microcoils used to guide video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical (VATS) excision of small peripheral lung nodules, according to a study published in this months issue of Radiology.

AstraZeneca reported an uptick in sales for its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter and year end as well as a doubling in its cost-cutting planwhich means the elimination of approximately 15,000 jobs by 2013.

Despite the current economic downturn, revenues for the global ultrasound market will continue to experience growth and exceed $6 billion by 2012, according to a report from InMedica, a division of IMS Research.

SonoSite, a provider of hand-carried ultrasound systems, has released its new SonoGT Global Target technology, which is now available on SonoSites mountable S Series ultrasound tools.

With the demand for portable and PC-based ultrasound units experiencing exponential growth, the Eastern European could reach $370.9 million in 2014, according to a report from market research firm Frost & Sullivan.