inVentiv has appointed Sydney Rubin as their chief communications officer. Rubin will report to CEO Paul Meister. Rubin originally worked for Chandler Chicco, a part of inVentiv Health, as senior counsel in corporate reputation, content development, crisis communications, executive training and public affairs. Rubin founded the PR and public affairs firm, Ignition Strategic Communications, which was purchased by Chandler Chicco in 2005.

Julie Bowen, who plays Claire Dunphy on Modern Family, has signed on with Epi-Pen maker Mylan to help promote awareness of anaphylaxis. A Mylan-sponsored competition, “Raise Your Hand for Anaphylaxis Awareness,” will award four school districts who have the most “hands raised” a $15,000 educational grant. Their website anaphylaxis101.com has more details.

Royalty Pharma has upped the ante on Elan today, raising its offer 12% to $6.4 billion. Elan’s board rejected New York-based Royalty’s previous bid last month. The company said in a statement that they will assess today’s announcement and advise shareholders.

Pfizer halted studies on an experimental anti-cancer compound for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. An analysis of the study showed that patients who were given the investigational agent, inotuzumab ozogamicin, were not surviving any longer than patients who had received rituximab or two other unspecified cancer drugs. Pfizer noted that the data did turn up any new or unexpected safety issues. The drugmaker is currently evaluating the compound in other studies for blood cancer.

Novo A/S, the holding company for the Novo Group of which Novo Nordisk is an asset, announced the acquisition of anti-infective developer and manufacturer Xellia Pharmaceuticals for $700 million. The Norwegian manufacturer’s  pipeline includes anti-infective products for multi-drug resistant infections.

Edelman has hired Michael Spitz as SVP digital health. Spitz joins the health PR giant from Zemoga, where he headed the health and life sciences practice and was editor-in-chief of the Pixels and Pills blog. He reports to Bruce Hayes, general manager of Edelman’s New York health practice. Edelman also named Marcus Gordon VP of digital health for the Southeast. Gordon will work out of the shop’s Atlanta office.