OvaGene Oncology, a biotechnology company, has formed a partnership with The Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) through the Industry Collaboration Team (ICT) program.

Chugai Pharmaceutical has received a notification from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) that the conditions for approval (surveillance of all patients) are lifted with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and polyarticular-course juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) indications for the humanized anti-human IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, ACTEMRA.

ArQule and Daiichi Sankyo will move forward with a Phase 3 clinical trial of ARQ 197, a small molecule inhibitor of the c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Watson Pharmaceuticals has promoted Robert Stewart, who joined the company in November 2009 as senior vice president of global operations, has been promoted to executive vice president of global operations.

The US FDA has approved Merz Pharmaceuticals' Xeomin, a botulinum toxin type A for the treatment of adults with cervical dystonia or blepharospasm.

Aragon Pharmaceuticals, a privately held small-molecule drug discovery company, has appointed its co-founder Richard Heyman to the role of CEO.

Biotechnology company MorphoSys will receive a payment from Novartis in connection with the initiation of a phase 1 clinical trial of a HuCAL-derived, fully human antibody in the therapeutic area of ophthalmology.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has appointed a senior vice president responsible for ex-Japan Asia commercial activities to further strengthen its international operations.

AstraZeneca has appointed Bruce Burlington to the board of directors as a non-executive director, with effect from August 1, 2010. Mr Burlington will also become a member of the board’s science committee.

Merck has said that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the New Drug Application (NDA) for Cladribine Tablets as a therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).