Novartis net sales declined by 2% (-1% cc) to USD 13.7 billion. Currency negatively impacted sales by 1% due to the strengthening of the dollar against many currencies. Products launched since 2007 drove the Group to strong volume growth of 5 percentage points versus the previous year.

Today, Novo Nordisk and the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at Oxford University jointly announced a new partnership to develop promising new drug candidates and identify novel biomarkers and treatment targets for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

AstraZeneca and Ardea Biosciences, Inc. (Ardea) have entered into a definitive merger agreement, pursuant to which AstraZeneca will acquire Ardea, a San Diego, California-based biotechnology company focused on the development of small-molecule therapeutics.

Novartis announced agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on label changes for Gilenya® (fingolimod). The update to the Gilenya prescribing information includes patient selection parameters to aid in the identification of candidates for Gilenya treatment and more specific recommendations for treatment initiation for patients with relapsing forms of MS in the United States.

GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK) confirms that it made an offer to the Board of Directors of Human Genome Sciences (HGS, NASDAQ: HGSI) on 11th April proposing to acquire all of the outstanding shares of HGS for US$13.00 per share in cash.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has published its Corporate Responsibility Report, in which the company reiterates its commitment to operate responsibly, openly and transparently and sets out advances made on this agenda during 2011.

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced the results from a Phase 3 trial evaluating the company's investigational compound for advanced Parkinson's disease, levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG).