AstraZeneca today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved once-daily Qtern (10mg dapagliflozin and 5mg saxagliptin) for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. The new medicine is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycaemic (blood sugar level) control in adults with type-2 diabetes who have inadequate control with dapagliflozin (10mg) or who are already treated with dapagliflozin and saxagliptin.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today announced that Columbia University Medical Center and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Peter Mac) have joined the International Immuno-Oncology Network (II-ON), a global peer-to-peer collaboration between Bristol-Myers Squibb and academia that aims to advance Immuno-Oncology (I-O) science and translational medicine to improve patient outcomes.

Pfizer Inc. has announced the election of Ronald E. Blaylock to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Blaylock was also appointed to the Corporate Governance and Science and Technology Committees of Pfizer's Board.

Novartis today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the Company's supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for filing, and granted Priority Review for the expanded use of Zykadia® (ceritinib) as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test.

Bayer had a very successful year in 2016, both strategically and operationally. Sales of the Bayer Group increased in 2016 by 1.5 percent (Fx & portfolio adj. 3.5 percent) to EUR 46,769 million (2015: EUR 46,085 million). EBITDA before special items advanced by 10.2 percent to EUR 11,302 million (2015: EUR 10,256 million). EBIT rose by 12.8 percent to EUR 7,042 million (2015: EUR 6,241 million) after special charges of EUR 1,088 million (2015: EUR 819 million).

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) announced today that it has appointed Robert J. Bertolini, Matthew W. Emmens and Theodore R. Samuelsto its Board of Directors, effective immediately. In connection with these appointments, the Board will temporarily expand to 14 directors until the 2017 Annual Meeting, to be held on May 2, 2017.

AstraZeneca today announced that it has entered into an agreement with TerSera Therapeutics LLC (TerSera) for the commercial rights to Zoladex (goserelin acetate implant) in the US and Canada. Zoladex is an injectable luteinising hormone-releasing hormone agonist, used to treat prostate cancer, breast cancer and certain benign gynaecological disorders.