AstraZeneca and MSD, Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, US (MSD: known as Merck & Co., Inc. inside the US and Canada) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) for the MEK 1/2 inhibitor and potential new medicine selumetinib.

AveXis, a Novartis company, today announced it signed an agreement to purchase an advanced biologics therapy manufacturing campus in Longmont, Colorado, further expanding AveXis' production capacity as it prepares to launch Zolgensma® (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi[1]) an investigational gene therapy awaiting global regulatory approvals for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Type 1 and for future gene therapy treatments in development.

Novartis today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Mayzent® (siponimod) for the treatment of adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, including secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) with active disease, relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS)*.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has approved Forxiga (dapagliflozin) as an oral adjunct treatment to insulin for adults with type-1 diabetes (T1D). The approval is based on data from the Phase III DEPICT clinical programme and a dedicated trial in Japanese patients (D1695C00001).

Boehringer Ingelheim has filed for regulatory approval of nintedanib in patients with systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) with the FDA and EMA. Nintedanib as an anti-fibrotic medicine is already approved in more than 70 countries for the treatment of patients living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

More than five years after the Xarelto™ litigation began, and with Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals prevailing in all six cases that went to trial, the companies have reached an agreement in principle to settle in the amount of 775 million U.S. dollars.

PARIS & Vivet Therapeutics ("Vivet"), a privately held gene therapy biotech company dedicated to developing gene therapy treatments for inherited liver disorders with high unmet medical need, and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced that Pfizer has acquired a 15% equity interest in Vivet and secured an exclusive option to acquire all outstanding shares.