AstraZeneca has been informed that the UK and US governments' tax authorities have agreed to the terms of an Advance Pricing Agreement regarding transfer pricing arrangements for AstraZeneca's US business for the 13-year period from 2002 to the end of 2014.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that it will no longer pursue global approval (marketing authorisation) for the use of Avodart™ (dutasteride) to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Novartis completed the transaction to acquire an 85 percent stake in the Chinese vaccines company Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. This acquisition provides Novartis with an expanded presence in the Chinese vaccines market

Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced the official signing of a cooperation agreement between Fovea Pharmaceuticals, its Ophthalmology Division, and the Vision Institute, one of the main eye disease research centers in Europe, for research in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of ocular diseases.

A new study showed that SPIRIVA® HandiHaler® (tiotropium bromide inhalation powder), a long-acting anticholinergic, was significantly more effective at preventing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) exacerbations than salmeterol HFA-MDI (hydrofluororalkane-metered dose inhaler).

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced that a pivotal Phase II clinical study of its investigational Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor, vismodegib (RG3616/GDC-0449), showed positive results in people with advanced basal cell carcinoma (aBCC), a particularly severe and debilitating form of skin cancer.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) today announced that a clinical trial - known as study 024 - of its investigational compound ipilimumab has met the primary endpoint of improving overall survival in previously-untreated patients with metastatic melanoma.