Novartis announced the opening of a new research institute in Siena with a nonprofit mission to exclusively focus on the development of vaccines for diseases of the developing world. The Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health (NVGH) is the first institute of its kind to be set up by a major vaccine manufacturer.

Nycomed successfully completed the acquisition of BradleyPharmaceuticals, a company focused on niche therapeutic markets in the United States. Bradley will be integrated into the US specialty business Nycomed US. The acquisition makes Nycomed US a leader in the US dermatology market, with combined annualised dermatology sales of $450 million.

AstraZeneca today announced it intends to seek reconsideration or reversal of a verdict in the Montgomery County Circuit Court awarding $40 million in compensatory damages and $175 million in punitive damages for alleged false and misleading reporting of prices for drugs reimbursed by the Alabama State Medicaid Agency in the US.

Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY) the global specialty biopharmaceutical company announces results for the twelve months to December 31, 2007 – a year which has seen significant growth in launched products.
Financial Highlights, 2007 Full Year:

GSK today announced significant new price reductions for its HIV medicines offered on a not-for-profit basis to the world's poorest countries. This reduction is the fifth time the company has made a price reduction as part of its pioneering preferential pricing policy originally introduced in 1997.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONXX) today reported its financial results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2007. Onyx reported a net loss of $11.7 million, or $0.21 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to a net loss of $20.7 million, or $0.47 per share, in the same period in the prior year.

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that a Phase III trial evaluating Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was stopped early following a planned interim analysis, when the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) concluded that the study would not meet its primary endpoint of improved overall survival.