AstraZeneca and Actavis Plc today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which AstraZeneca will acquire the rights to Actavis’ branded respiratory business in the US and Canada for an initial consideration of $600 million on completion and low single-digit royalties above a certain revenue threshold.

A simple mobile-phone app that helps staff at human milk banks (HMBs) with the pasteurisation of donor breast milk and a life-saving kit for the treatment of diarrhoea in under-fives have been awarded joint first prize in the annual GSK and Save the Children $1 million Healthcare Innovation Award.

AstraZeneca today announced four research collaborations aimed at harnessing the power of CRISPR, a pioneering genome-editing technique, across its entire discovery platform in the company's key therapeutic areas.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today reported results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2014, which were highlighted by strong global sales for priority brands and important advances in the company's immuno-oncology (I-O) portfolio.

GSK has announced that the first batch of its candidate Ebola vaccine is being shipped to west Africa and is expected to arrive in Liberia later today Friday 23 January. The shipment, containing an initial 300 vials of the candidate vaccine, is the first to arrive in one of the main Ebola affected countries and will be used to start the first large-scale efficacy trial of experimental Ebola vaccines in the coming weeks.

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) has agreed to acquire Trophos, a privately held biotechnology company based in Marseille, France. Trophos's proprietary screening platform generated olesoxime (TRO19622), which is being developed for SMA - a rare and debilitating genetic neuromuscular disease that is most commonly diagnosed in children.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals has announced the establishment of a joint investment company with Qualcomm Ventures to target early stage companies who offer technologies, products or services that "go beyond the pill" to benefit physicians and patients.