Novartis announced today that it has signed collaboration and licensing agreements with Intellia Therapeutics for the discovery and development of new medicines using CRISPR genome editing technology and Caribou Biosciences for the development of drug discovery tools. Intellia and Caribou are two of the leading biotechnology companies developing this novel technology.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr) announced today they have entered into a worldwide research collaboration to develop novel small molecule anti-fibrotic therapies, and an exclusive license agreement that allows Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop, manufacture and commercialize Calibr's preclinical compounds resulting from the collaboration.

A new European consortium has been formed including GSK and three leading research institutions to help further advance development of a candidate vaccine against Ebola, which is being co-developed by GSK and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that it has acquired control of Veropharm, a leading Russian pharmaceutical manufacturer. Abbott has had a presence in Russia for nearly 40 years and, in line with its long-term commitment to growing global healthcare markets and capabilities, the company is committed to providing a reliable supply of its healthcare products to Russian patients.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced today two strategic decisions to expand the company's rare disease research and development activities through the establishment of a gene therapy platform to investigate potential treatments for patients.

AstraZeneca today announced that a jury in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts returned a verdict in favour of AstraZeneca in a Multi-District antitrust case filed by various purchaser groups challenging the previous settlement of Nexium patent litigation with Ranbaxy.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation today announced nine new grants totaling more than $3.5 million to strengthen efforts in China and India in the fight against hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by focusing on the most vulnerable, high-risk patient populations.