简体中文
Britain's AstraZeneca has agreed to buy U.S. drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39 billion in its largest ever deal, diversifying away from its fast-growing cancer drug business in a bet on rare-disease and immunology drugs.
The boards of both companies have agreed to the cash-and-stock deal, which values Alexion at $175 a share, a premium of 45 percent to the Boston-based company's closing price on Friday.
"It is a tremendous opportunity for us to accelerate our development in immunology, getting into a new segment of disease, a new segment of physicians, and patients we haven't been able to cover so far," AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot told a media call.
Alexion's best-selling drug is Soliris, used against a range of rare immune disorders including paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), which causes anaemia and blood clots, and whose revenue rose 3.6 percent in the first nine months to $3 billion.
AstraZeneca hopes that an improved version of Soliris called Ultomiris has an even larger market potential. It expects more growth from introducing the target's rare-disease treatments to China and other emerging markets.
The deal comes in a week that AstraZeneca said it was conducting further research to confirm whether its COVID-19 vaccine could be 90 percent effective, potentially slowing its rollout, and as a rival shot from Pfizer was launched in Britain and approved for use in the United States.
On Tuesday, the UK partners became the first COVID-19 vaccine makers to publish final-stage clinical trial data in a scientific journal, clearing a key hurdle.
The new acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, and Alexion shareholders will own 15 percent of the combined company.
(CGTN)
