News of Note—Merck Big Data; AbbVie JAK1 win; Bayer, Vanderbilt deal

> Merck KGaA is joining forces with non-profit Project Data Sphere as the pair eye working on a new, global cancer Big Data alliance. Release

> AbbVie has posted positive top-line results from the late-stage test of upadacitinib, its investigational oral JAK1-selective inhibitor, in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. The candidate hit its primary and secondary endpoints, but two deaths hit the company's sharesJefferies however say: "The deaths were considered by investigators to have no reasonable possibility of being related to upadacitinib at the time of initial reporting.". Statement

> German pharma Bayer and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center have penned a five-year R&D alliance aimed at finding new therapies against kidney diseases. Release