Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG) and Meritage Pharma, Inc. announced today that Shire has acquired Meritage, a privately-held company, for an upfront fee of $70 million and additional contingent payments based on the achievement of development and regulatory milestones.

Novartis announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Farydak® (panobinostat, previously known as LBH589) capsules in combination with bortezomib* and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior regimens, including bortezomib and an immunomodulatory (IMiD) agent[1].

Sanofi announced today that it has entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Dutch biotech Lead Pharma to discover, develop and commercialize small-molecule therapies directed against the nuclear hormone receptors called ROR gamma t to treat a broad range of autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease, which are among the most common.

GSK has acquired GlycoVaxyn AG, a specialist vaccine biopharmaceutical company based in Switzerland. Since forming a scientific collaboration in 2012, GSK has held a minority stake in GlycoVaxyn and has now acquired the remaining shares for US $190 million (approximately £124 million) in cash to take full ownership of the company.

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced the acquisition of Signature Diagnostics AG (Signature), a privately held company based in Potsdam, Germany. Signature is a translational oncology and genomics company that develops large blood plasma and tissue biobanks in multiple cancers, including colorectal and lung, which are constructed from multicenter prospective clinical studies.

Bayer HealthCare, in partnership with its development partner Janssen Research & Development, LLC, announced a collaboration with the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) and the Canadian Stroke Prevention Intervention Network (C-SPIN) to conduct the global Phase III NAVIGATE ESUS study.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Hospira, Inc. (NYSE: HSP) have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Hospira, the world's leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies and a global leader in biosimilars, for $90 a share in cash for a total enterprise value of approximately $17 billion.