Roche announced that the European Commission has approved Avastin ( bevacizumab ) in combination with standard chemotherapy ( carboplatin and paclitaxel ) as a front-line (first-line following surgery) treatment for women with advanced ovarian cancer.

Pfizer Inc.announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the New Drug Application (NDA) for tofacitinib (development code CP-690 ,550), an investigational novel, oral JAK inhibitor being studied for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Pfizer Inc. announced that a Phase 3 study for Lyrica (pregabalin) in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) met each of its three co-primary endpoints, showing significant benefit as compared with placebo and pramipexole .

Results from THALASSA , the first pivotal placebo-controlled study examining the benefit of iron chelation with Exjade ( deferasirox ) in patients with non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia ( NTDT ), show that Exjade can significantly reduce iron overload. These data were presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.

Merck  announced today that a Phase III study of Zolinza ( vorinostat ), for investigational use in combination with bortezomib in patients with progressive multiple myeloma , met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a 23 percent reduction in the risk of progression compared to the standard therapy of bortezomib (p=0.01).

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review a New Drug Application (NDA) for Eliquis ( apixaban ), an investigational compound for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Pfizer Inc. and Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Excaliard, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drugs for the treatment of skin fibrosis, more commonly referred to as skin scarring. The acquisition is expected to close before the end of the year.

Roche announced 96-week results from a Phase II study of ocrelizumab in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), the most common clinical form of the disease. Phase III trials underway to investigate ocrelizumab in two forms of MS.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Erwinaze ( asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi ) to treat patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), who have developed an allergy (hypersensitivity) to E. coli derived asparaginase and pegapargase chemotherapy drugs used to treat ALL.

Pfizer announced that the European Commission has approved Vyndaqel (tafamidis) for the treatment of Transthyretin Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP) in adult patients with stage 1 symptomatic polyneuropathy. TTR-FAP is a rare, progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects approximately 8,000 patients worldwide.