Group sales were 34.8 billion Swiss francs, 5% higher at constant exchange rates and stable in Swiss francs for the nine months ended 30 September 2014. A number of currencies remained weaker against the Swiss franc throughout the year, most notably the US dollar, as well as all Latin American currencies and the Japanese yen.

Novo Nordisk ranked second in the 2014 Science Careers Top Employers Survey, which is a big jump up the list from last year's ranking where Novo Nordisk came in at number 11. The key drivers of the ranking were the categories 'Treats employees with respect', 'Has loyal employees' and 'Is socially responsible'.

As founding global partner, Bayer HealthCare joins the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) today to launch the annual World Thrombosis Day. Held for the first time, World Thrombosis Day is dedicated to focusing attention on the underlying condition responsible for the three leading causes of cardiovascular death - heart attack, stroke and venous thromboembolism (VTE, or venous blood clots).

AstraZeneca has announced that The Lancet Respiratory Medicine has published positive safety and efficacy data from a Phase IIb study evaluating benralizumab, a novel investigational monoclonal antibody, in patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma and elevated levels of eosinophils, a type of inflammatory white blood cell.

To highlight the critical need for access to eye care and regular eye examinations, Novartis and its eye care division, Alcon, are introducing new data on World Sight Day, highlighting the economic impact and burden that blindness and vision impairment can have on societies and individuals across the globe.

GSK has announced a $5 million Innovation Challenge Fund (ICF) to further encourage and advance collaborative research as part of its effort to develop bioelectronic medicines. The fund will support academic groups and small companies who want to develop solutions for GSK's Bioelectronics Innovation Challenge, which was developed by a group of leading scientists from around the world.

Novartis announced today that it has entered into a clinical collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of three molecularly targeted compounds in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb's investigational PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo® (nivolumab), in Phase I/II trials of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).