Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced today two strategic decisions to expand the company's rare disease research and development activities through the establishment of a gene therapy platform to investigate potential treatments for patients.

AstraZeneca today announced that a jury in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts returned a verdict in favour of AstraZeneca in a Multi-District antitrust case filed by various purchaser groups challenging the previous settlement of Nexium patent litigation with Ranbaxy.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation today announced nine new grants totaling more than $3.5 million to strengthen efforts in China and India in the fight against hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by focusing on the most vulnerable, high-risk patient populations.

AstraZeneca and Amgen have announced that AMAGINE-2™, a pivotal, multi-arm Phase III trial evaluating two doses of brodalumab in more than 1,800 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, met its primary endpoints when compared with both Stelara® (ustekinumab) and placebo at week 12.

First results from a small phase 1 trial published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine show that a GSK/NIH Ebola candidate vaccine was well-tolerated and produced an immunological response in each of the 20 healthy adult volunteers in the USA who received it.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:FPRX) have entered into an exclusive clinical collaboration agreement to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of combining Opdivo (nivolumab), Bristol-Myers Squibb's investigational PD-1 (programmed death-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor, with FPA008, Five Prime's monoclonal antibody that inhibits colony stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R).

Today, the Novartis Foundation, formerly named the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, convenes its annual symposium. This year's topic - "Sustainable healthcare interventions: from blueprint to lasting impact" - brings together philanthropists, local partners and innovators to explore the journey from idea generation and pilot projects to the realization of scalable and sustainable healthcare systems that improve outcomes for patients in low- and middle-income countries.