Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and Avista Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm, announced today the parties have signed a definitive agreement for Avista to acquire Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging ("BMS MI"), a business unit of Bristol-Myers Squibb, for approximately $525 million of cash proceeds. BMS MI is a leading supplier of medical imaging products for nuclear and ultrasound cardiovascular diagnostic imaging procedures.

Novo Nordisk has entered a global licence agreement with French biotechnology company C2X Pharma and the French national institute for health and medical research (Inserm) for thrombin-activable factor X. The protein, which is in early preclinical development, is a novel type of bypassing agent, capable of propagating blood clotting independently of factors VIII and IX.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) today announced an agreement to commercialize ATRIPLA® (efavirenz 600 mg/emtricitabine 200 mg/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg) in Europe for the treatment of virologically suppressed adults with HIV-1 infection, subject to the product's approval by the European Commission.

AstraZeneca announced that it has filed patent infringement actions in United States District Court, District of Delaware, against seven generic drug manufacturers, which have submitted Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) for Crestor™.

Pharmion Corporation (Nasdaq: PHRM) and MethylGene Inc (TSX: MYG) announced maturing data from the Phase 1/2 study investigating the combined use of MGCD0103, a novel, isotype-selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, and Vidaza(R) (azacitidine for injection) in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and OncoMed Pharmaceuticals (OncoMed) today announced a worldwide strategic alliance to discover, develop and market novel antibody therapeutics to target cancer stem cells which are believed to play a key role in the establishment, metastasis and recurrence of cancer. The alliance with GSK will be conducted through its Center of Excellencefor External Drug Discovery (CEEDD).

The oral, once-daily, investigational anticoagulant rivaroxaban (Xarelto®) is significantly more effective than enoxaparin, the standard of care, in preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery. Data from the RECORD1 study show a 70% relative risk reduction (RRR) for rivaroxaban in total VTE when compared with enoxaparin (p<0.001) and an 88% RRR (p<0.001) in major VTE.