The Bayer Group is to further expand its research and development activities despite the current financial and economic crisis. "The task now is to set the right course. Only through innovation can our company generate the growth that is essential to safeguard its sustained success," said Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer AG, in an address given in front of 130 journalists during the "Bayer's Perspective on Innovation 2008" press forum in Leverkusen.

Roche and Axiogenesis AG, Cologne, Germany have entered into an agreement for the development and distribution for Axiogenesis' Cor.At(R) 100% pure cardiomyocytes platform as an integral part of the xCELLigence life cell analysis system. Under the terms of the agreement, RAS will market cell-systems, based on the technology of Axiogenesis Cor.At being customize for the xCELLigence platform.

Pfizer Inc (Pfizer) and Sigma-Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite S.p.A (Sigma-Tau), a privately owned Italian pharmaceutical company, have entered into a license and supply agreement under which, following applicable regulatory submissions and approvals, the companies will market Eurartesim®, a novel fixed dose artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), in Africa.

AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb have announced expansion of their worldwide collaboration to include the development and commercialisation of dapagliflozin in Japan. Dapagliflozin, one of two investigational drugs under joint development by the companies, is currently being studied in Phase III clinical trials in several countries, including the U.S., to assess its efficacy and safety as a once-daily treatment for type 2 diabetes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has posted a comprehensive review conducted by GlaxoSmithKline of its clinical and observational data that demonstrated better overall asthma control with the combination medicine Seretide/Advair (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol) than with a single medicine alone.

Bayer Schering Pharma will develop and commercialise ProStrakan's Tostrex® in Canada, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific region. A respective agreement between Bayer Schering Pharma and ProStrakan Group plc. was signed which grants Bayer exclusive marketing rights in these regions.

Novo Nordisk has announced that it will provide diabetes care, including free insulin, to 10,000 children in some of the world's poorest countries. The five-year programme, called 'Changing the Future for Children with Diabetes', will begin in 2009 with an initial roll-out in Uganda, Tanzania, Guinea-Conakry and the Democratic Republic of Congo.