President Bill Clinton announced two important and complementary agreements today to enable better, more affordable treatments for patients on second-line antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for HIV/AIDS in the developing world. For the first time, a second-line regimen of four ARVs will be available for under $500 annually.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. have announced that Effient(TM) (prasugrel), a new antiplatelet medicine, is now available in pharmacies across the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Effient tablets on July 10 for the reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular events (including stent thrombosis) in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) who are managed with an artery-opening procedure known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), issued a statement in response to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement regarding the results of a safety review of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) blockers [marketed as Remicade (infliximab), Enbrel (etanercept), Humira (adalimumab), Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) and Simponi (golimumab)]. This safety review was the subject of an FDA Early Communication in June 2008 pertaining to cases of malignancy in pediatric patients exposed to a TNF blocker.

AstraZeneca and Astellas Pharma Inc. announced an agreement for the co-promotion of AstraZeneca's Symbicort Turbuhaler (budesonide/ formoterol, a dry powder inhaler), for the treatment of bronchial asthma in Japan. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca and Astellas will co-promote Symbicort Turbuhaler and Astellas will be responsible for distribution of the product.

On the 22nd July, the company confirmed that it had contracts in place to supply 195 million doses of its pandemic (H1N1) 2009 adjuvanted influenza vaccine and had a variety of agreements in place with the US Government to supply pandemic products worth $250 million. Since that date, nine government contracts have been signed for a further 96 million doses of the vaccine.

Roche today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Avastin (bevacizumab) plus interferon alpha for people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer.

Nycomed agreed with Sanofi-Aventis and Zentiva to purchase 20 branded generic products in several Central and Eastern European countries. The agreement will notably strengthen Nycomed's market position in particular in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.