A pioneering public-private research initiative between GSK, the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is to harness the power of 'big data' and genome sequencing to improve the success rate for discovering new medicines. The new Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation (CTTV) will aim to address a wide range of human diseases and will share its data openly in the interests of accelerating drug discovery.

Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Xolair® (omalizumab) for the treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU), an unpredictable and debilitating skin disease that is known as chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) outside of the US. In the US, Xolair is indicated for CIU in adults and adolescents (12 years of age and above) who remain symptomatic despite H1-antihistamine treatment[5].

With an investment of more than 500 million Euros at its sites in Wuppertal and Leverkusen, Germany, Bayer will establish additional capacities for the manufacturing of the recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) hemophilia products that are currently in development. The investigational therapy options for hemophilia patients - a plasma protein-free rFVIII (BAY 81-8973) and a long-acting rFVIII (BAY 94-9027) - are both currently in Phase III clinical trials.

Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:FPRX) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) have signed a collaboration agreement for the discovery, development and commercialization of immuno-oncology therapies directed toward targets identified in two undisclosed immune checkpoint pathways using Five Prime's proprietary target discovery platform.

Sanofi (EURONEXT : SAN and NYSE : SNY) and UCB have entered into a scientific and strategic collaboration for the discovery and development of innovative anti-inflammatory small molecules, which have the potential to treat a wide range of immune-mediated diseases in areas such as gastroenterology and arthritis.

GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK) announced that, following the voluntary Open Offer undertaken by its subsidiary, GlaxoSmithKline Pte Ltd, GSK has successfully increased its stake in its publicly-listed pharmaceuticals subsidiary in India (GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited), from 50.7% to 75%. GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited will remain publicly-listed.

More than 100 countries have now approved Boehringer Ingelheim's Pradaxa® for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism for adult patients with the most common sustained heart rhythm condition (non-valvular atrial fibrillation, nvAF).(1) The 100th approval was announced by the Jordan Food and Drug Administration. Further regulatory approvals for Pradaxa® are expected to be received in the near future.