Bayer Schering Pharma and the University of Nagasaki (Japan) have signed a licensing agreement on the use of novel substances for molecular imaging. Being used as tracers in Positron Emission Tomography (PET), these compounds could make it possible to allow an early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

Pfizer Inc announced it will globally withdraw all dalbavancin marketing applications for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections in adults, including the U.S. new drug application (NDA) and the European marketing authorization application (MAA).

Bayer Schering Pharma's YAZ® will be available across Europe as of September 2008. YAZ® is the first oral contraceptive containing 3 mg of the unique progestin drospirenone combined with 0.02 mg of ethinyl estradiol in a new dosing regimen of 24 days of active hormone tablets followed by 4 days of hormone-free tablets.

Novo Nordisk announced the launch of a next generation of FlexPen® at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting. The new insulin injection device builds upon the high standards set by the current version of FlexPen®, with new features providing improved safety, convenience and ease of use for people with diabetes.

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) and Medivation, Inc.(NASDAQ: MDVN) announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize Dimebon, Medivation's investigational drug for treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. Dimebon currently is being evaluated in an international, confirmatory Phase III trial in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

The results of the TRANSCEND® trial demonstrate that Micardis® 80mg (telmisartan) reduces the risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction/heart attack and stroke in high-risk cardiovascular patients by 13% compared with those patients already receiving best standard of care (p=0.048), referring to the same endpoint as that defined as the primary endpoint of the landmark HOPE trial published in 2000.[1,2]

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. ("ANAVEX") (OTCBB: AVXL), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics to treat Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases and cancer, today announced the successful completion of preclinical studies (in-vitro and in-vivo in mice) on ANAVEX 2-73, a novel sigma-1 receptor agonist for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.