Business & Industry News Channel
Sanofi will communicate to its social partners in the coming days a project for the adaptation of its activities in France through 2015 before beginning information and consultation procedures in October. This project would be a continuation of the three key strategic objectives presented on July 5th: 
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending that ELIQUIS® (apixaban) be granted approval for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in adult patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and one or more risk factors for stroke. The CHMP's positive opinion will now be reviewed by the European Commission, which has the authority to approve medicines for the European Union. The final decision will be applicable to all 27 European Union member states plus Iceland and Norway. 
H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) today announced the submission to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) of a marketing authorisation application (MAA) for the approval of the investigational multimodal antidepressant vortioxetine (Lu AA21004), and the dossier has been accepted for review. Vortioxetine belongs to a new generation of antidepressants that has been developed for the treatment of patients with major depressive episodes (MDE). 
GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) has submitted a regulatory application in the European Union (EU) seeking approval of an additional indication for Synflorix™, a paediatric pneumococcal vaccine, for the active immunisation against pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in infants and children from 6 weeks up to 5 years of age. The application was submitted as a variation to the Marketing Authorisation Application to the European Medicines Agency. 
Boehringer Ingelheim has announced the beta launch of its first social game on Facebook, called Syrum. Syrum will be a new and evolving platform for the research-driven pharmaceutical company to inspire and educate in a changing digital world. In development for more than two years, Syrum has been specifically designed to demonstrate the complex processes around medicine research and development through gaming mechanics. It aims at promoting science and innovation to the digital community in a fun and engaging way. 
In line with its strategy, and in preparation for the growing demand for biological medicines, UCB today inaugurated its new pilot biotechnology plant at its Braine-L’Alleud site in Belgium. UCB's new biologics pilot production facility was officially opened at a ceremony attended by Jean-Claude Marcourt, Vice President and Minister for the Economy of the Walloon Government and Roch Doliveux, UCB's CEO. Boehringer Ingelheim, the Institute of Molecular Health Science and the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health of the ETH Zurich will collaborate to achieve new insights into the development of diabetes and obesity. The joint effort will focus on investigating three cell types that may contribute to the onset of diseases such as obesity and diabetes because of their dominant role in metabolic homoeostasis. With this four-year, industry-academia collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim will further strengthen its efforts to translate basic scientific findings into more effective treatments of human diseases.