AstraZeneca, along with its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, will present the strength and depth of its translational science, which is expected to deliver the Company's next wave of innovative oncology medicines, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Washington DC, US, 1-5 April 2017.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced today that the European Commission (EC) has approved XELJANZ® (tofacitinib citrate) 5 mg twice daily (BID) oral tablets in combination with methotrexate (MTX) for the treatment of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in adult patients who have responded inadequately to, or who are intolerant to one or more disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

Bayer AG and its development partner Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have announced results from the EINSTEIN CHOICE study, which demonstrated that both 10 mg and 20 mg once-daily dosages of its oral Factor Xa inhibitor rivaroxaban (Xarelto®) significantly reduced the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with aspirin 100 mg once daily (acetylsalicylic acid, ASA) in patients who had previously completed 6 to 12 months of anticoagulation therapy for pulmonary embolism (PE) or symptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Novartis has announced new data suggesting, for the first time, that Cosentyx® (secukinumab) may modify the course of moderate-to-severe psoriasis leading to long-term, treatment-free skin clearance[1]. Cosentyx is the first and only IL-17A inhibitor to have reported this potential of disease modification.

Merck, a leading science and technology company, announced today the new startups participating in its Accelerator programs in Darmstadt, Germany and Nairobi, Kenya. The two program locations accept startups from different fields within Merck's core specialisms: Darmstadt takes startups from the fields of healthcare, life sciences and performance materials, while Nairobi works exclusively on innovations in digital healthcare.

Novartis has announced results of a new post-hoc analysis in a subgroup of patients with reduced ejection fraction heart failure (HFrEF) and diabetes suggesting that Entresto® (sacubitril/valsartan) tablets improved glycemic control, as assessed by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing, compared to ACE-inhibitor enalapril[1].

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today announced that the 27,564-patient Repatha® (evolocumab) cardiovascular outcomes study, FOURIER, established for the first time that maximally reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels with Repatha, beyond what is possible with the current best therapy alone, leads to a further reduction in major cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, strokes and coronary revascularizations.