VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Shares of the German pharmaceutical and chemical giant increased by 5% in Monday trading. Monsanto's interest to acquire its crop science business triggered the surge.

German drugs and chemicals group Bayer plans to invest 4 billion euros ($4.54 billion) in research and development this year, its chief executive told Germany's Bild newspaper.

Germany's Bayer said it was considering strategic options for its home and garden consumer products business, maker of Baby Bio plant feed, as its crop protection arm focuses on professional customers.

Werner Baumann, seen as heir apparent to Bayer Chief Executive Marijn Dekkers, says he will fight for the independence of Germany's largest drugmaker after the spin-off of its plastics unit.

Low borrowing costs, currency shifts and the hunt for both cost savings and growth opportunities will drive a steady flow of merger and acquisition deals this year despite geopolitical tensions, according to business leaders meeting this week.

British scientists have developed a new use for 3D printing, putting it to work to create personalized replica models of cancerous parts of the body to allow doctors to target tumors more precisely.

The Western world's first gene therapy drug is set to go on sale in Germany with a 1.1 million euro ($1.4 million) price tag, a new record for a medicine to treat a rare disease.

Private equity firms are circling Bayer's (BAYGn.DE) 10 billion-euro ($12.7 billion) plastics business, hoping to divert the German drugmaker from its plan to list the division, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Bayer (BAYGn.DE) plans to sell its plastics business with an estimated value of about 8 billion euros ($10.3 billion) as part of a shift away from chemicals toward pharmaceuticals and crop science, a German newspaper reported, citing informed sources.

Oklahoma, US-based anti-abortion craft store chain Hobby Lobby stirred controversy by investing $73 million in Pfizer, Bayer, and other companies that make abortive drugs and contraception.

Sanofi is looking to grasp a good hold in Africa through acquisition of business units, according to the firm's CEO Chris Viehbacher who told Reuters.

Germany-based healthcare and agricultural products company Bayer said it will be buying Norway-based Algeta, its partner in developing a prostate cancer therapy, in a deal worth $2.9 billion, Bloomberg reported.

German-based pharmaceutical giant Bayer is preparing an acquisition bid amounting to NOK306 (USD49.9) per share for its Norwegian partner Algeta, according to a German newspaper.

Erin Brockovich said she wanted Essure, a birth control procedure by Bayer Corporation, taken off the market.

Bayer said regulators in China were investigating their local office in the mainland for alleged unfair competition practices.