Pfizer Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Baxter International Inc.'s portfolio of marketed vaccines for $635 million. As part of the transaction, Pfizer will also acquire a portion of Baxter's facility in Orth, Austria, where these vaccines are manufactured.

AstraZeneca today announced that it has entered an agreement to transfer to the company the rights to Almirall's respiratory franchise for an initial consideration of $875 million on completion, and up to $1.22 billion in development, launch, and sales-related milestones. AstraZeneca has also agreed to make various sales-related payments.

The Bayer Group was again successful in the second quarter of 2014. Sales of the Bayer Group rose by 0.9 percent in the second quarter of 2014 to EUR 10,458 million (Q2 2013: EUR 10,360 million). Adjusted for currency and portfolio effects (Fx & portfolio adj.), sales advanced by 6.3 percent.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) has reported financial results for the second quarter of 2014, which was highlighted by strong global sales for the company's key brands; the achievement of important regulatory milestones for key brands in Japan, Europe and the U.S.; a new strategic immuno-oncology collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; and the initiation of several research collaborations that will strengthen the company's leadership position in immuno-oncology.

Merck, a leading company for high-tech products in the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors, today reiterated its commitment to investments in the Chinese market, strengthening a major pillar of its emerging markets growth strategy.

AstraZeneca today announced that MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, has entered into a clinical trial collaboration with Advaxis, Inc., a US-based biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies.

AstraZeneca today revealed the proposed designs for its new Global R&D Centre and Corporate Headquarters in Cambridge in the UK. The plans for the new facility, which will be located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC), include designs for the Global Centre, an R&D Enabling Building and an Energy Centre(1).