The Bayer Group remained on a path of growth in the third quarter of 2016 and took a major strategic step forward with the agreed acquisition of Monsanto. "The announcement that we had reached agreement to acquire Monsanto is a major strategic milestone for Bayer. We will be creating a global leader in agriculture and, at the same time, reinforcing our leadership position as a Life Science company," said Bayer Management Board Chairman Werner Baumann.

Amgen (Europe) GmbH, an affiliate of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) (collectively, "Amgen") today announced an investment in eHealth Ventures, an Israel-based digital health incubator. The investment reflects Amgen's commitment to serving patients by driving innovation and sustainable healthcare through technology discovery, and recognizes the importance of Israel as a source of innovation in eHealth and digital technologies.

Net sales were USD 12.1 billion in the third quarter, as volume growth of 5 percentage points was more than offset by the negative impact of generic competition and pricing. Growth Products contributed USD 4.3 billion or 36% of net sales, up 20% (USD) over the prior-year quarter. Operating income was USD 2.3 billion. Core adjustments amounted to USD 1.1 billion (2015: USD 1.3 billion), broadly in line with the prior-year quarter.

The Merck Accelerator is looking for startups with the potential to reshape entire industries and make people's lives richer. The focus is on startups in the fields of healthcare, life science and performance materials - with a digital perspective. Do you have plans to internationalize your business? Are you ready to get your start-up to the next level?

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) has announced that Group sales increased 4% to CHF 37.5 billion. Sales in the Pharmaceuticals Division were up 4% to CHF 29.1 billion, driven by demand for breast cancer medicines Perjeta and Herceptin as well as for Actemra/RoActemra for rheumatoid arthritis.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) today announced an award of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of Pfizer's vaccine candidate against group B Streptococcus(group B strep or GBS) infection, a leading cause of neonatal sepsis, a serious life-threatening blood infection.

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved TECENTRIQ® (atezolizumab) for the treatment of people with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, and have progressed on an appropriate FDA-approved targeted therapy if their tumour has EGFR or ALK gene abnormalities.