Changing the experience of health: that's the focus of the six startups which the Bayer G4A team has included in the Accelerator program this year. The young companies from Canada, Germany, Israel, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States came out ahead of more than 1,800 competitors from 100 countries. They now have 100 days in which to intensively drive the further development of their products and solutions with expertise and investment from Bayer.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE:4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas") announced amendments to the protocols for two registrational Phase 3 trials, ARCHES and EMBARK, designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of XTANDI® (enzalutamide) in men with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC). These amendments accelerate timelines for the anticipated primary completion dates of both trials.

Novartis today announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved Kymriah® (tisagenlecleucel, formerly CTL019). The approved indications are for the treatment of pediatric and young adult patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that is refractory, in relapse post-transplant or in second or later relapse; and for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) after two or more lines of systemic therapy.

Novartis today announced the global Phase III SOLAR-1 trial evaluating the investigational alpha-specific PI3K inhibitor BYL719 (alpelisib) has met the primary endpoint showing an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS). SOLAR-1 is evaluating BYL719 in combination with fulvestrant compared to fulvestrant alone in postmenopausal women and men with hormone-receptor positive,

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced that the China National Drug Administration (CNDA) has granted marketing authorisation for Alecensa® (alectinib) as a monotherapy treatment for patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive, advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The Bristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance will present 15 Eliquis® (apixaban) posters at the ESC Congress 2018 held in Munich, Germany, August 25-29, 2018. Nine of the posters to be presented are new analyses from the global real-world data (RWD) program, ACROPOLIS™ (Apixaban ExperienCe Through Real-WOrld POpuLatIon Studies), exploring the effectiveness and safety of anticoagulants, including Eliquis, among patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Ziylo and Novo Nordisk A/S today announced that Novo Nordisk has acquired all of the shares of Ziylo, a University of Bristol spin-out company based at Unit DX science incubator in Bristol, UK. Ziylo has been pioneering the use of its platform technology - synthetic glucose binding molecules - for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.