AstraZeneca announced that its development partner, Pozen, Inc., has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for VIMOVO (PN400) (enteric coated naproxen/esomeprazole magnesium) tablets, a product under investigation for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in patients who are at risk of developing NSAID-associated ulcers.

Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany, has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Celera Corporation, California, USA, providing Bayer Schering Pharma with access to five cancer-related targets for therapeutic development and in-vivo diagnostic imaging. These therapeutic targets were identified by Celera's proteomics discovery platform.

Novo Nordisk has reached a settlement with the Danish Public Prosecutor for Serious Economic Crime regarding the company's sales to Iraq during 2000 to 2003 under the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme.

H. Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO; LUN DC) has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Serdolect® (sertindole) for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Pfizer has announced results from a randomized Phase 3 trial of Sutent (sunitinib malate) in patients with advanced pancreatic islet cell tumors, also known as pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, which is a different type of cancer than the more common pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Study findings demonstrated that median progression-free survival (PFS) was 11.1 months in patients treated with Sutent compared to 5.5 months in patients treated with placebo.

GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Chroma Therapeutics Limited announced a collaboration to develop macrophage-targeted compounds using Chroma's proprietary esterase-sensitive motif (ESM) technology, which adds amino acid esters to compounds with the aim of targeting the compounds to specific cells in the inflammatory disease process.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ilaris® (canakinumab) for the treatment of children and adults with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS), which includes a number of rare but life-long auto-inflammatory disorders with debilitating symptoms and limited treatment options[1],[2],[3],[4].