Biggest Pharma is now taking advantage of an anastrophic change in the political cycle where deals made to provide greater medical coverage will ultimately drive the cost of medical care up as profits continue to come before people.
Pfizer Inc, the No. 1 U.S. drugmaker, and Botox maker Allergan Plc said they were in friendly talks to create a pharmaceutical colossus but the prospect that the company would seek to avoid U.S. taxes sounded political alarm bells.
Both New York-based Pfizer and Dublin-based Allergan said no agreement has been reached and declined to discuss any terms of the deal, which would potentially set up Pfizer to take advantage of Ireland's lower tax rates.
Allergan shares rose 6 percent to $304.38 in U.S. trading, while Pfizer closed off 1.9 percent at $34.77.
Pfizer is already facing political pushback at home that is only likely to intensify with the U.S. presidential campaign underway, as candidates take aim at high prescription drug prices and companies looking to avoid paying U.S. taxes
Tax inversion, or corporate inversion, is a largely American term for the relocation of a corporation's legal domicile to a lower-tax nation, or corporate haven, usually while retaining its material operations in its higher-tax country of origin.
Kenobi: On his way to Naboo, escorting Senator Amidala home. I must admit that without the clones, it would not have been victory.
Yoda: Victory? Victory, you say? Master Obi-Wan, not victory. The shroud of the Dark Side has fallen. Begun, the Clone War has!