Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced that data from the ATHENA (Addressing THE Need for Advanced HPV Diagnostics) U.S. registration trial of over 47,000 women demonstrate that two human papillomavirus genotypes, HPV 16 and HPV 18, can identify those women with cervical pre-cancer missed by cytologic examination with a Papanicolau (Pap) test.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have signed a definitive merger agreement whereby Lilly will acquire Alnara, a privately held biotechnology company developing protein therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic diseases.

Nycomed announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Daxas® (roflumilast) in the European Union. Daxas® is a proprietary selective phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) enzyme inhibitor that has been developed by Nycomed for the treatment of COPD, a progressive, life-threatening lung disease.

AstraZeneca and MRC Technology, the commercialisation company for the UK's Medical Research Council, announced a new strategic collaboration to share access to their collections of compounds to aid the search for potential new treatments for serious diseases.

As part of its commitment to further transform the company's approach to diseases that disproportionately affect the world's poorest people, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is creating a new operating unit dedicated to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs*).

Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited ("Daiichi Sankyo") and Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited ("Ranbaxy") announced that Ranbaxy's New Drug Discovery Research ("NDDR") has been transferred to Daiichi Sankyo India Pharma Private Limited as part of the strategy to strengthen the global Research and Development (R&D) structure of the Daiichi Sankyo Group.

Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY ) and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) announced a unique partnership to develop therapeutic treatments for people with type 1 diabetes at different stages of the disease - both those living with the disease and the newly diagnosed - as well as preventing diabetes in those at risk.