Novartis' Group net sales reached USD 14.8 billion (0%, +2% cc) in the fourth quarter. Currency had a negative impact of 2 percentage points. Portfolio rejuvenation continued to drive overall growth for the Group, as recently launched products grew 17% over the previous-year quarter to USD 4.3 billion. These products, which include Lucentis, Gilenya, Afinitor and Tasigna, contributed 29% of Group net sales, up from 25% in the year-ago period, and more than offset the impact of generic competition in the quarter of USD 0.6 billion.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited ("Takeda") today announced the launch of a new trading company in China, Takeda (China) International Trading Co., Ltd. ("TCIT"), which will strengthen its business structure in China, and is an important step in the local integration of Nycomed following Takeda's acquisition of Nycomed completed in September 2011.

Novartis celebrates the one-year anniversary of an unprecedented, coordinated effort to eliminate or control 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2020. The commitment was captured in the landmark London Declaration on NTDs in which Novartis and a group of partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), government officials from the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates governments, the World Bank and non-governmental organizations, and 13 other pharmaceutical companies pledged new and extended commitments to fight NTDs.

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that the New Drug Application (NDA) for its investigational oncology compound afatinib* has been accepted for filing and granted Priority Review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The application for afatinib* is currently under review for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test.

Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) has provided an update on its Research & Development (R&D) pipeline with Dr. Elias Zerhouni, President, Global Research and Development, presenting at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, California.

Data published in The Lancet showed that patients on Afinitor® (everolimus) tablets with non-cancerous kidney tumors known as renal angiomyolipomas associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) experienced a significant reduction in tumor size and the absence of tumor progression[1].

Bayer HealthCare has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new low dose levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (IUS) called Skyla™ in the U.S.. The new IUS is placed in the uterus for the prevention of pregnancy for up to three years.