Apologies for the late send-off, but we had sundry tasks to run for Mrs. Pharmalot and one of the short people. And so we would like to leave you with a couple of items we meant to run by you earlier. Hope you have a pleasant evening and see you tomorrow…

Glaxo posted better-than-expected third-quarter results after the weak British pound helped outweigh the impact of increased generic competition in the US. And the financial crisis has opened the door to potential acquisition among companies that need to sell off assets. However, ceo Andrew Witty says the drugmaker will lose a total of about $5 billion in sales as demand falls for treatments like its Coreg heart med and Wellbutrin antidepressant. And ongoing controversy surrounding its Avandia diabetes pill means the outlook for sales of the drug “remains negative” (look here for earnings results).

Amgen reported third-quarter profit rose sharply thanks to sales of its key drugs. Net income climbed to $1.16 billion, or $1.09 a share, from $201 million, or 18 cents, a year ago, when there $1.4 billion in costs for closing plants and eliminating jobs. Revenue increased 7 percent to $3.9 billion. Sales of the Aranesp and Epogen anemia drugs rebounded, after falling since studies last year linked high doses to heart attack, stroke and death. “The core business has stabilized to the point where investors should have much greater confidence in the outlook,” Eric Schmidt, an analyst at Cowen, tells Bloomberg News (see earnings results here).