Roche announced licensing and settlement agreements with Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. and Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics in the field of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Diagnostics. Under the terms of the licensing agreement Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. and Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics granted Roche Diagnostics a worldwide royalty-bearing license under their broad patent portfolio for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in the field of immunodiagnostics.

14 November is World Diabetes Day (WDD). This year is the first time that WDD is officially recognised by the United Nations. Novo Nordisk is celebrating the day with activities all over the world, from the UN building in New York to the pyramids of Egypt.

Lundbeck has initiated phase I clinical trials with the pharmaceutical candidate Lu AA47070 to investigate safety, tolerability and the pharmacokinetic profile of the compound in humans. Lu AA47070 is a novel adenosine receptor antagonist that has been shown to be efficacious in a number of animal models for neurological diseases including models of Parkinson's disease.

Findings from three phase III clinical trials will be presented in the plenary session and during oral presentations at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, from December 8 to 11, 2007. The studies evaluated rivaroxaban in head-to-head comparison with enoxaparin, the current standard of care, for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing major orthopaedic surgery.

At a media roundtable in Brussels, Novo Nordisk presented the Changing Diabetes Barometer, which will measure and share the worldwide progress in the fight against diabetes on an annual basis. The Barometer is a tool that will provide healthcare professionals, patient organisations, politicians, institutions and media with valuable information on how to improve the quality of diabetes care, bring down diabetes-related complications, extend patients' life expectancy and reduce costs.

Pfizer announced that post-stroke or mini-stroke patients treated with Lipitor® (atorvastatin calcium) Tablets 80 mg had stabilization or improvement in kidney function. These results were demonstrated in patients with or without chronic kidney disease, metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. This post-hoc analysis of the landmark Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction of Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) study, was presented at the Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association.

Following consultation with the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada, and other health authorities, Bayer announced today that it has elected to temporarily suspend worldwide marketing of Trasylol® (aprotinin injection) until final results from the Canadian BART trial can be compiled, received and evaluated.