Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced the opening of the LIBRETTO-531 clinical trial [NCT04211337] for selpercatinib, also known as LOXO-292, for treatment-naive RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) patients. This is the second Phase 3 trial to open for selpercatinib, a highly selective and potent, oral investigational new medicine in clinical development for the treatment of patients with cancers that harbor abnormalities in the rearranged during transfection (RET) kinase.

AstraZeneca and MSD Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., US (MSD: known as Merck & Co., Inc. inside the US and Canada) announced that Lynparza (olaparib) has been approved in the US for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (pancreatic cancer)

Theravance Biopharma Ireland Limited, a subsidiary of Theravance Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: TBPH) ("Theravance Biopharma") and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) ("Pfizer") today announced that the companies have entered into a global license agreement for Theravance Biopharma's preclinical program for skin-targeted, locally-acting pan-Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors that can be rapidly metabolized.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) and Allergan plc. (NYSE:AGN) today announced the submission of a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ABP 798, a biosimilar candidate to Rituxan® (rituximab). Amgen and Allergan are collaborating on four oncology biosimilar medicines, two of which have already been approved by the FDA.

AstraZeneca and MSD Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, US (MSD: known as Merck & Co., Inc. inside the US and Canada) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 7 to 5 to recommend Lynparza (olaparib) as a 1st-line maintenance monotherapy for patients with germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (pancreatic cancer), whose disease has not progressed following 1st-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and Spark Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCE) ("Spark") today announced the completion of the acquisition following the receipt of regulatory approval from all government authorities required by the merger agreement.

AstraZeneca has completed an agreement to divest its commercial rights to Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate immediate release) and Seroquel XR (quetiapine fumarate extended release) in Europe and Russia to Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH (Cheplapharm).