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NEW YORK — The offering period for Pfizer's acquisition of Icagen has expired, allowing the former to purchase more than 5 million shares in the company, Pfizer said.

Pfizer said that as of Monday, 5.4 million shares of Icagen had been put up for sale. Along with the 1.1 million shares Pfizer already owns, this would give it control of 70.2% of Icagen, which develops drugs for pain and other conditions. Pfizer plans to acquire the remaining shares as well.

NEW YORK — Health experts have expressed fear that Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's comments about the human papillomavirus vaccine could set back progress in vaccinations, according to published reports.

The New York Times quoted experts as saying that vaccination rates often drop when public figures raise alarms about vaccines, including one who said it could set back efforts to vaccinate against human papillomavirus — a sexually transmitted infection that causes genital warts and several cancers in men and women — by three years.

CHICAGO — A drug made by Merck for treating HIV infection was effective and tolerated in patients regardless of their gender or race, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial announced Monday.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved two new uses for a drug made by Amgen, the drug maker said Monday.

Amgen announced the approval of the biotech drug Prolia (denosumab) for increasing bone mass in men and women who are at risk of fractures due to hormone ablation treatments they are receiving for prostate and breast cancer, respectively.

ST. LOUIS — Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts will provide services for patients using a drug to manage a debilitating side effect of many anti-cancer treatments, ESI said.

CINCINNATI — The vast majority of pharmaceutical overdoses in children that resulted in a trip to the emergency room resulted from self-ingestion, according to a study released Friday.

BOSTON — Walgreens on Friday spoke of the breadth of programs the chain has developed, many in partnership with Joslin Diabetes Center, to assist people with diabetes in living more healthily, at the 2011 Joslin Diabetes Roundtable held here.

PRINCETON, N.J. — A diabetes drug made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca significantly reduced Type 2 diabetes patients' blood-sugar levels, compared with placebo, when added to insulin, according to results of a new study.

The two companies presented results of a 24-week extension to a 52-week study of Onglyza (saxagliptin) at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes' 47th annual meeting in Lisbon, Portugal; they had presented results from the original study at the American Diabetes Association's scientific sessions in San Diego in June.