Boehringer Ingelheim and pharmaceutical company Pharmaxis (ASX: PXS) announce that Boehringer Ingelheim has exercised its option and acquired the investigational drug PXS4728A, to develop it for the treatment of the liver-related condition NASH and to prevent its consequences.

AstraZeneca today announced that it plans to invest approximately $285 million in a new high-tech facility for manufacturing of biological medicines in Södertälje, Sweden. The new plant will be focused on filling and packaging of protein therapeutics.

AstraZeneca today announced a collaboration with the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) in Quebec, Canada, to search the genomes of up to 80,000 patients for genes associated with cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, their complications and treatment outcomes.

M‐Pharma B.V., a privately held Dutch biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of recombinant human Alkaline Phosphatase (recAP) for inflammatory diseases, and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced today that Pfizer has acquired a minority equity interest in AM-Pharma and secured an exclusive option to acquire the remaining equity in the company.

Bayer's once-daily oral anticoagulant Xarelto® (rivaroxaban) has been approved by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in adult patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation with one or more risk factors.

H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) today announced that the Board of Directors of the company has appointed Kåre Schultz as new president and CEO of Lundbeck. Kåre Schultz will take up his new position on 20 May 2015.

The Bayer Group had a strong start to 2015 and once again expanded sales in the first quarter. Sales of the Bayer Group moved ahead in the first quarter of 2015 by 14.8 percent to EUR 12,117 million (Q1 2014: EUR 10,555 million).