The Bayer Cares Foundation recently presented the 2018 Aspirin Social Innovation Awards to five international initiatives for their groundbreaking ideas in the fields of healthcare and nutrition. The award-winners are all impact pioneers whose concepts have the potential to bring about sustainable, systematic changes to thus improve the living conditions of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Novo Nordisk announced publication of results from the SUSTAIN 9 Phase 3b trial in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. The objective of this 30 week trial was to assess the efficacy and safety of Ozempic® (semaglutide) 1.0 mg when added to SGLT-2 inhibitor (SGLT-2i) therapy.

Novartis announced today new data in 441 Chinese patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis from a Phase III study investigating the efficacy and safety of Cosentyx (secukinumab). The data, part of a broader ongoing 52 week Phase III study in 543 patients, show 97.7% of patients treated with Cosentyx 300mg achieved PASI 75 and 80.9% achieved PASI 90 by week 12, with 87% of patients reaching PASI 90 by week 16.

The fourth winner of the Bayer Thrombosis Research Award has been chosen. The Scientific Committee of the Bayer Science & Education Foundation awarded the EUR 30,000 prize to Dr. Changjun Yin from the Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich in recognition of his research on Atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease (AD) as inflammatory conditions with high risks to develop thrombosis-related diseases.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) announced that a Delaware jury delivered a verdict in Amgen's favor upholding the validity of two Amgen patents related to PCSK9 antibodies. These patents describe and claim antibodies, like Amgen's innovative Repatha® (evolocumab) product, that bind to a specific region on PCSK9 and reduce LDL-C levels in the body.

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and Spark Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCE) have entered into a definitive merger agreement for Roche to fully acquire Spark Therapeutics at a price of US$ 114.50 per share in an all-cash transaction. This corresponds to a total transaction value of approximately US$ 4.3 billion on a fully diluted basis.

The Phase III THEMIS trial met its primary endpoint and demonstrated that Brilinta (ticagrelor), taken in conjunction with aspirin, showed a statistically-significant reduction in a composite of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared to aspirin alone.