Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2013. Fourth-quarter 2013 worldwide sales of $5.7 billion increased 3.3 percent on an operational basis, driven by Diagnostics and Medical Devices. On a reported basis, sales increased 0.4 percent, including an unfavorable 2.9 percent effect of foreign exchange.

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today announced that the companies' U.S. Diabetes Alliance is providing a three-year grant to the American Diabetes Association's Pathway to Stop Diabetes program. The innovative research initiative provides resources and support for a new generation of diabetes researchers and is designed to generate exciting discoveries through excellence, innovation, collaboration and radical thinking.

GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for Tafinlar® (dabrafenib) for treatment of patients with metastatic BRAF V600E mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have received at least one prior line of platinum-containing chemotherapy.

AstraZeneca announced that MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, has entered into an oncology research collaboration and licensing agreement with Immunocore Limited, a privately-held, UK-based biotechnology company. Both companies will research and develop novel cancer therapies using Immunocore's Immune Mobilising Monoclonal T-Cell Receptor Against Cancer (ImmTAC) technology.

Bayer HealthCare and Peking University (PKU), Beijing, China, have signed a comprehensive collaboration agreement on a three-year strategic partnership to promote translational research for drug discovery. Under this agreement, the two partners will establish a joint research center at Peking University under the name Bayer HealthCare/Peking University Center of Translational Research for Drug Discovery (BPC/TRDD).

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has added its anonymised patient-level data from the online request system it launched in May 2013 to a new multi-sponsor request system that includes studies from multiple organisations.

The Bayer Group plans to further strengthen its oncology portfolio with the acquisition of Norwegian pharmaceutical company Algeta ASA, Oslo. "We have already successfully collaborated with Algeta to develop and commercialize the cancer drug Xofigo™. The planned acquisition would give us full control over Xofigo™. We are absolutely convinced of the potential of this drug and the underlying technology to provide patients with innovative treatment options," commented Bayer CEO Dr. Marijn Dekkers.