and various other products;

• the non-recurrence of litigation-related charges recorded in 2008 of approximately $900 million associated with the resolution of certain litigation involving our non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) pain medicines; and

• a $482 million gain recorded in 2009 related to ViiV (see further discussion in the “Our Strategic Initiatives––Strategy and Recent Transactions: Acquisitions, Dispositions, Licensing and Collaborations” section of this Financial Review),

partially offset by:

• higher interest expense of $717 million primarily associated with the $13.5 billion of senior unsecured notes that we issued in March 2009 and the approximately $10.5 billion of senior unsecured notes that we issued in June 2009, to partially finance the acquisition of Wyeth;

• lower interest income of $542 million, primarily due to lower interest rates, partially offset by higher cash balances;

• asset impairment charges of $417 million, primarily associated with certain materials used in our research and development activities that no longer are considered recoverable; and

• the non-recurrence of a one-time cash payment received in 2008 of $425 million, pre-tax, in exchange for the termination of a license agreement, including the right to receive future royalties and a gain of $211 million related to the sale of a building in Korea.

Other (income)/deductions—net changed unfavorably by $3.8 billion in 2008 compared to 2007, primarily as a result of:

• the previously mentioned charges of approximately $3.2 billion recorded in 2008 related to the resolution of certain investigations concerning Bextra and various other products and the resolution of certain litigation involving our NSAID pain medicines; and

• lower net interest income of $772 million in 2008 compared to $1.1 billion in 2007, due primarily to lower average net financial assets, reflecting proceeds of $16.6 billion from the sale of our former consumer healthcare business in late December 2006, and lower interest rates,

partially offset by:

• the receipt of a one-time cash payment of $425 million, pre-tax, in exchange for the termination of the previously mentioned license agreement, including the right to receive future royalties; and

• a gain of $211 million related to the sale of a building in Korea.

Provision for Taxes on Income

Our overall effective tax rate for continuing operations was 20.3% in 2009, 17.0% in 2008 and 11.0% in 2007. The higher tax rate for 2009 compared to 2008 is primarily due to the increased tax costs associated with certain business decisions executed to finance the Wyeth acquisition, partially offset by a tax benefit of $556 million related to the sale of one of our biopharmaceutical companies, Vicuron, and a tax benefit of $174 million recorded in the third quarter of 2009 related to the resolution of certain investigations concerning Bextra and various other products. This resulted in the receipt of information that raised our assessment of the likelihood of prevailing on the technical merits of our tax position. The higher tax rate in 2009 also was partially offset by the decrease in IPR&D charges, which generally are not