Novartis has announced additional steps to extend its leadership in clinical trial data transparency. Since 2005, and before requirements were in place, Novartis has been voluntarily disclosing summaries of Clinical Study Reports of its innovative medicines on its own website.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) have announced results of a pre-specified subanalysis of the Phase 3 ARISTOTLE trial in relation to patient age. ARISTOTLE was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Eliquis compared to warfarin for reducing the risk of stroke or systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF).

Boehringer Ingelheim Fremont Inc. received the East Bay Innovation Award in recognition for its contribution to the East Bay's culture of innovation. Boehringer Ingelheim's Fremont, California site is an arm of its biopharmaceutical division and provides the entire production technology chain from DNA to drug substance.

Novartis announced today that it is broadening its cancer immunotherapy research program with the acquisition of CoStim Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge, MA-based, privately held biotechnology company focused on harnessing the immune system to eliminate immune-blocking signals from cancer.

Crystal Bioscience Inc. (Crystal) and Boehringer Ingelheim have entered into an agreement to collaborate on the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies. Crystal Bioscience will apply its proprietary gel encapsulated microenvironment (GEM) and chicken immunization platforms to discover antibodies to multiple targets selected by Boehringer Ingelheim, with the goal of discovering different development candidates that may result in new or better therapies.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has agreed with Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada ("Merck"), through two Merck subsidiaries, to explore the therapeutic potential of Merck's investigational anti-PD-1 therapy, MK-3475, in combination with two Pfizer oncology assets. A Phase I/II clinical study will evaluate the safety and anti-cancer efficacy of MK-3475 combined with Pfizer's axitinib (INLYTA®) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that they have entered into an agreement through a subsidiary to evaluate the safety and efficacy of talimogene laherparepvec, an investigational oncolytic immunotherapy, combined with MK-3475, an investigational anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, in a Phase 1b/2 study of patients with mid- to late-stage melanoma.