Bayer HealthCare has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new low dose levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (IUS) called Skyla™ in the U.S.. The new IUS is placed in the uterus for the prevention of pregnancy for up to three years.

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced today the initiation of the ABSORB III clinical trial in patients in the United States. This randomized, controlled trial is designed to enroll approximately 2,250 patients, the majority in the United States, and compare the performance of Abbott's drug eluting Absorb TM Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS) device to the company's XIENCE TM family of drug eluting stents.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced top-line results for four completed Phase III clinical trials for empagliflozin, an investigational sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor being studied for treatment of patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D).

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) has completed the separation of its research-based pharmaceuticals business, which became AbbVie, a new independent biopharmaceutical company. AbbVie will begin trading independently on the New York Stock Exchange today under the symbol "ABBV."

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ELIQUIS® (apixaban) to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation, the most common type of irregular heartbeat, affects approximately 5.8 million people in the U.S., and results in a five times greater risk of stroke.

Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Signifor® (pasireotide) injection for the treatment of adult patients with Cushing's disease for whom pituitary surgery is not an option or has not been curative3. Signifor is the first medicine to be approved in the US that addresses the underlying mechanism of Cushing's disease,

GSK has formed a partnership with Vodafone to harness innovative mobile technology to help vaccinate more children against common infectious diseases in Africa. Despite major advances in the funding and availability of vaccines worldwide, it is estimated that up to a fifth of children worldwide still do not receive basic vaccines.