Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (RLL, NSE: RANBAXY, BSE: 500359) ("Ranbaxy"), today announced that it has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and market Atorvastatin and has launched the product in the U.S. market.

Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) confirmed its decades-long commitment to the fight against malaria at the opening of 10th Edition of the Pan-African Conference against Malaria.

AstraZeneca has committed an additional $100 million to its venture capital arm, MedImmune Ventures, increasing the total capital under management to $400 million.

Boehringer Ingelheim's breakthrough novel oral anticoagulant Pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate) was awarded the prestigious Prix Galien in Canada. At a Gala Ceremony during the Tenth Annual Canadian Health Research Awards Ceremony in Ottawa, Pradaxa® (Pradax® in Canada) was recognised as the most innovative Canadian product in 2011.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is providing more than $4 million in additional funding to the Infectious Disease Research Institute. The funding will allow IDRI to continue its early phase drug discovery efforts focused on identifying new and better therapies in the fight against tuberculosis,

Merck KGaA and its Life Science division Merck Millipore have sent thousands of state-of-the-art water test kits to Thailand in an effort to ensure the safety of municipal drinking water following months of devastating flooding in that region.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Excaliard, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drugs for the treatment of skin fibrosis, more commonly referred to as skin scarring.