President Donald J. Trump has nominated Alex Michael Azar II, a former executive of Eli Lilly and Company, to be the Secretary of the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Read More

Janssen Biotech, one of the pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson, has signed a license agreement worth up to $1.4 billion with Zymeworks, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, to develop up to six bispecific antibodies. Read More

Bayer has signed an agreement with Loxo Oncology, a biopharmaceutical company, to develop two investigational drugs for treating patients with cancers harboring tropomyosin receptor kinase gene fusions in a deal worth up to $1.55 billion. Read More

Sanofi has partnered with Principia Biopharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, to develop an experimental oral treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) and potentially other central nervous system (CNS) diseases in a deal worth up to $805 million. Read More

Pfizer has sold its 49% equity share in its joint venture, Hisun-Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, to Sapphire I Holdings. Pfizer and Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceuticals launched the joint venture in 2012 to commercialize generic products in China and global markets. Read More

The European Commission has approved Boehringer Ingelheim’s (BI’s) Cyltezo (adalimumab), a biosimilar to AbbVie’s Humira (adalimumab), for treating multiple chronic inflammatory diseases in adults and children. Humira is AbbVie’s top-selling drug with 2016 sales of $16 billion. Read More

Five US Senators have sent a letter to Allergan’s chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Brenton Saunders, seeking information about the company’s recent transfer of patents covering one of its top-selling drugs, Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion), a drug to treat dry eyes, to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, a sovereign tribal government. Read More

Pfizer has promoted Albert Bourla, Group President of Pfizer’s Innovative Health Business, to the newly created position of chief operating officer, effective January 1, 2018. Read More

Bill Gates plans to invest $50 million in the Dementia Discovery Fund, a private fund working to diversify the clinical pipeline and identify new targets for treating Alzheimer’s disease. Gates is making the investment through his personal funds. Read More

Recipharm, a CDMO, plans to discontinue manufacturing operations at its solid-dosage manufacturing facilities in Stockholm and Höganäs, Sweden. Read More