Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company's supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for licensure of its Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine.

Novartis has announced results from Phase III trials showing QAB149 (indacaterol), an investigational once-daily bronchodilator for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), significantly improves lung function[3] and provides a significant reduction in breathlessness[1] compared to tiotropium, a current treatment option.

Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) has announced that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Massachusetts District Court's decision that Roche's peg-EPO product, Mircera, infringes four Amgen patents ('868, '698, '933 and '422) relating to recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) and processes for making it.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) has unveiled a new operating model and announced a series of changes to speed medicines from its pipeline to patients. To help achieve this goal, the company will establish a Development Center of Excellence to streamline and accelerate late-stage development of new medicines, and will reorganize its pharmaceutical business into four business units that will operate alongside the Elanco animal health business unit.

Tamiflu (oseltamivir) demonstrated significantly improved survival rates in patients with the highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza (avian flu) and severe cases of seasonal influenza, according to two new studies presented at the 49th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco.(1,2)

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced today that the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has approved its XIENCE V(R) Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) - the leading cause of death in China.

New data show patients with chronic low back pain on duloxetine hydrochloride (Cymbalta®) maintained reductions in pain for 41 weeks.(1) In patients who initially responded to duloxetine, this maintenance of pain reduction was accompanied by further reduction in pain that was statistically significant as measured by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) average pain rating.(1)