The Bayer Group remains on a path of growth. Sales of the Bayer Group advanced by 11.5 percent in the third quarter, to EUR 9,665 million (Q3 2011: EUR 8,670 million). The currency- and portfolio-adjusted increase was 5.5 percent. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell by 23.7 percent to EUR 838 million (Q3 2011: EUR 1,099 million).

GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) has announced the start of a Phase III programme to evaluate the efficacy and safety of mepolizumab, an investigational IL-5 antagonist, as adjunctive therapy in severe uncontrolled refractory asthma. The Phase III programme includes two key studies:

Successful treatment of respiratory diseases also depends on how much of the active substance enters the patient's lung. Boehringer Ingelheim's Respimat® Soft Inhaler and its long-lasting aerosol cloud effectively transport the active substance into the lung.

Novartis net sales reached USD 13.8 billion in the third quarter. Currency had a negative impact of 5 percentage points as a result of the strengthening of the dollar against most major currencies. As the Group begins to face generic competition to Diovan in the US, the continuing rejuvenation of the portfolio leaves Novartis well-positioned. Products launched since 2007, which include Lucentis, Gilenya, Afinitor and Tasigna, continued to perform strongly.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) posted third quarter 2012 net sales of $3.7 billion, a decrease of 30% compared to the same period a year ago, following the U.S. patent expiration of Avapro®/Avalide® in March 2012 and Plavix® in May 2012.

AstraZeneca and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced an agreement to co-develop and co-commercialise Ironwood’s linaclotide in China. Linaclotide is the first and only guanylate cyclase-C (GC-C) agonist approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, in August, for irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC).

Abbott announced results from an analysis of three-year long-term data from an ongoing open-label extension of the HUMIRA® (adalimumab) ULTRA 1 and ULTRA 2 studies. Adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) who have had an inadequate response to certain other medications and were treated with HUMIRA were evaluated for symptom improvement for up to three years.