Business Minute: Here is the latest New Jersey business news from The Associated Press - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Business Minute: Here is the latest New Jersey business news from The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Parsippany-basesd Actavis is buying Ireland's Warner Chilcott in an all-stock deal valued at about $8.5 billion that would create the third-biggest specialty pharmaceutical company in the U.S. market. The combined company will be incorporated in Ireland, and analysts say that country's lower tax rate is a key to making the deal work. Actavis said it expects about $400 million in after-tax savings and cost cuts from the combination, counting the lower tax rate.

NEW YORK (AP) - Campbell Soup has reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations as a colder winter and better ads helped boost soup sales, offsetting a decline in its V8 drinks. The Camden-based company, which also makes Prego sauces and Pepperidge Farm cookies, has been trying to reinvigorate its namesake business with new flavors and packaging targeted at people in their 20s and 30s. The push comes as Campbell faces more competition from supermarkets that are offering fresh, hot soups in their take-out sections. Smaller players have been popping up on store shelves as well.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal health regulators say an experimental insomnia drug from Merck can help patients fall asleep, but it also carries worrisome side effects, including daytime drowsiness and suicidal thinking. The Food and Drug Administration has released its review of the company's sleep aid, suvorexant, ahead of a public meeting tomorrow. The pill works by temporarily blocking chemical messengers that keep people awake.

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) - A major New Jersey engineering firm and 7 of its former top executives have pleaded not guilty to charges they circumvented the state's pay-to-play laws. Birdsall Engineering and the other defendants, including its retired chief executive, Howard Birdsall, entered their pleas yesterday during a court hearing in Toms River.

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