Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval of the Company's pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Prevnar 13®* (Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine [Diphtheria CRM197 Protein]) as a single dose for use in adults.

Boehringer Ingelheim intends to invest 70 million Euro to expand its manufacturing plant in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Shanghai into a strategically important supply center for China. The goal of this project is to bring more health to more patients and to continuously improve Boehringer Ingelheim's product competitiveness and enlarge its market share.

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced the initiation of ESPRIT I, a first-of-its-kind clinical trial in Europe evaluating the safety and performance of the novel Esprit(TM) drug eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) for the treatment of blockages in the superficial femoral arteries (SFA) and iliac arteries that have resulted in claudication (leg pain upon walking).

GSK has reached agreement to divest the previously identified non-core OTC brands in the United States and Canada to Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. for £426 million ($660 million) in cash.

AstraZeneca announced that its investigational compound olaparib will not progress into Phase III development for the maintenance treatment of serous ovarian cancer. In addition, AstraZeneca announced that the second RENAISSANCE Phase III study of TC-5214 for patients with major depressive disorder did not meet its primary end point.

The Bayer Group plans to continue investing heavily in research and development and expects its Pharmaceuticals business in particular to generate substantial sales with the new products that are scheduled to be launched in the next 18 months.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) and Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:WPI) announced that they will collaborate to develop and commercialize, on a worldwide basis, several oncology antibody biosimilar medicines.