Boehringer Ingelheim has delivered positive results for the first half of 2017. Net sales increased by 24 per cent on the same period in the previous year to 9.2 billion euros after adjustment for currency effects (+27 per cent in euro terms).(1) In the first half of the year, Boehringer Ingelheim's figures for the first time included the net sales of Sanofi’s animal health business, Merial, which was acquired at the start of the year.

Pfizer Inc. announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Arthritis Advisory Committee (AAC) voted 10 to 1 to recommend approval of the proposed dose of tofacitinib for the treatment of adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Pfizer submitted supplemental new drug applications (sNDAs) for XELJANZ® 5 mg twice daily (BID) and XELJANZ® XR extended release 11 mg once daily (QD) for this pending indication.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and IFM Therapeutics (IFM) announced today that the companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Bristol-Myers Squibb will acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of IFM Therapeutics, a venture-backed biotech company focused on developing therapies that modulate novel targets in the innate immune system to treat cancer, autoimmunity and inflammatory disorders.

AstraZeneca and its haematology research and development centre of excellence, Acerta Pharma, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted Priority Review for the New Drug Application (NDA) for acalabrutinib, a highly-selective, potent, Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor.

In the first half of 2017, Group sales rose 5% to CHF 26.3 billion. Core EPS grew 6%, ahead of sales. Core EPS growth reflects the strong underlying business performance. IFRS net income increased 2%. Sales in the Pharmaceuticals Division increased 5% to CHF 20.5 billion. The recently launched medicines Tecentriq, Ocrevus and Alecensa contributed CHF 0.5 billion of new sales, which represents half of the division's growth.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and Clovis Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLVS) announced the companies have entered into a clinical collaboration agreement to evaluate the combination of Bristol-Myers Squibb's immunotherapy Opdivo and Clovis Oncology’s poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor Rubraca in pivotal phase 3 clinical trials in:

AstraZeneca and Merck & Co., Inc., (Merck; known as MSD outside of the US and Canada) today announced that they have entered a global strategic oncology collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialise AstraZeneca's Lynparza (olaparib) for multiple cancer types.