MedImmune LLC is combining the second-generation pyrollobenzodiazepine (PBD) warheads it picked up in a 2013 buyout of Spirogen Ltd. with Tanabe Research Laboratories USA Inc.'s antibodies in a collaboration to develop mono-specific and bi-specific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) against a set of cancer targets.

AstraZeneca and its MedImmune unit have signed a couple of early stage research deals aimed at boosting their cardiovascular and metabolic pipeline efforts – one of its three core therapeutic areas.

The unprecedented scale of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has prompted a similarly unprecedented interest in the response from the pharma and biotech industries to develop treatments and vaccines against the virus.

CEO Pascal Soriot used AstraZeneca's R&D day to talk up the company's rosy prospects as an independent company. Although the likelihood of a renewed takeover bid by Pfizer looks to be waning, he is taking no chances, and at the meeting with investors R&D leaders from across the company took to the podium to explain how bright the company's future looks.