Forest Laboratories (NYSE:FRX) and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) have entered into a definitive collaboration agreement to co-develop and commercialize ceftaroline in all markets outside the United States, Canada and Japan. Ceftaroline is Forest's late stage, next generation cephalosporin being investigated for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP).

Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq: AMGN) has announced the publication of results from two pivotal Phase 3 studies investigating the safety and effectiveness of denosumab at reducing fracture risk in more than 7,800 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis and in more than 1,400 men with non-metastatic prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) leading to bone loss.

Sandoz has announced the introduction of tacrolimus capsules, a generic equivalent of Prograf®, in the US. Tacrolimus is an immunosuppressive treatment used to help prevent rejection of a kidney or liver transplant.

Abbott (NYSE: ABT), the maker of Similac® Infant Formulas, has partnered with baby food maker Beech-Nut Nutrition to provide new parents with infant and toddler parenting tips, tools and offers through the companies Web sites.

Nycomed and Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) announced that they have entered into an exclusive development, manufacturing and commercialisation agreement in the United States for Daxas® (roflumilast), a once-daily oral treatment for patients suffering from symptomatic Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), San Francisco, CA, the initiation of a Phase III clinical study of BIBW 2992 as first-line treatment in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. BIBW 2992 (planned brand name Tovok™) is the first orally-administered, irreversible dual inhibitor of EGFR and HER2,(1) to reach Phase III development in NSCLC.(2)

President Bill Clinton announced two important and complementary agreements today to enable better, more affordable treatments for patients on second-line antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for HIV/AIDS in the developing world. For the first time, a second-line regimen of four ARVs will be available for under $500 annually.