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.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its global diabetes business that was part of its collaboration with AstraZeneca. Under terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will make an upfront payment of $2.7 billion to Bristol-Myers Squibb, with potential regulatory- and sales-based milestone payments of up to $1.4 billion and will make royalty payments based on net sales through 2025.

Pfizer Inc. announced that it has settled its litigation against Teva Pharmaceuticals, USA Inc., relating to Pfizer's patent covering the use of Viagra® to treat erectile dysfunction (sildenafil citrate 25, 50, and 100 mg tablets), which expires in April 2020 (including pediatric exclusivity).

H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) have announced that they will further expand their collaboration to include the development of Lu AF20513, an investigational vaccine candidate against Alzheimer's disease.