Abbott today announced a definitive agreement with the Solvay Group for Abbott to acquire Solvay's pharmaceuticals business for EUR 4.5 billion ($6.6 billion) in cash, providing Abbott with a large and complementary portfolio of pharmaceutical products and a significant presence in key global emerging markets.

Novartis has received a positive opinion recommending European Union (EU) approval of QAB149 (indacaterol) for maintenance bronchodilator treatment in adult patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). When approved, QAB149 and its device, Concept-1, will be known as Onbrez® Breezhaler®[§].

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced primary results from its ground breaking PROSPECT (Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree) clinical trial. PROSPECT is the first prospective natural history study to evaluate the role of vulnerable plaque in unexpected heart attacks and the natural progression of coronary artery disease.

A detailed analysis of the Phase III ToGA study revealed an unprecedented survival benefit for patients whose tumours exhibited a particularly high level of HER2 when Herceptin (trastuzumab) was added to standard chemotherapy (Xeloda or intravenous 5-FU and cisplatin).

H. Lundbeck A/S' (Lundbeck) partner Teva Phamaceuticals Industries Ltd. (Teva) announced that results from the ADAGIO trial, published online in The New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrated that Parkinson's disease patients receiving Azilect® (rasagiline) 1mg/day at the start of the study (early-start group) experienced superior benefit over 18 months compared with those who started the exact same treatment nine months later (delayed-start group)(1).

Bayer HealthCare AG and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the full results from their first collaborative group-sponsored randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled Phase II trial showing that Nexavar® (sorafenib tablets) in combination with the oral chemotherapeutic agent, capecitabine, significantly extended progression-free survival in patients with advanced breast cancer by 74 percent.

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced that an analysis of the phase II BRAIN study of Avastin (bevacizumab) alone or in combination with irinotecan chemotherapy for the treatment of relapsed or progressive glioblastoma (GBM) demonstrated that in addition to increasing the chance of patients being alive without worsening of their disease at six months (progression free survival; PFS-6*(1), Avastin-based therapy may also lead to additional positive impact on patients' daily lives(2).