Boston, MA 04/23/2014 (wallstreetpr) – American pharma giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has reportedly put in a bid of $100 billion to buy British drug maker, Astra-Zeneca. This report appeared in the London-based newspaper, The Sunday Times. However both sides have been pretty quiet after the news and it seems as though unofficial talks are inactive too.
The report
The report states that few industry insiders and investing bankers, who know about the deal, said that Astra-Zeneca had initially turned down a $60 billion bid. Although there are no ongoing negotiations going on at the present moment, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is known have pulled off some of the biggest acquisitions in the trade. The latest of such an achievement was in 2009, when it acquired Wyeth for $60 billion.
Astra-Zeneca’s present state
Astra- Zeneca, which happens to be the second largest drug maker outside of the U.S., has been a potential target for acquisition of late, as it faces a cliff to climb in regard to its patents. Many of its major drugs will lose exclusivity over the next few years. Also, in that list lies the company’s blockbuster high-cholesterol treatment drug, Crestor. Another more immediate concern lies for its heartburn and ulcer treatment drug, Nexium, which may result in losses of about $4 billion. This will likely to result from the market share to generics and could occur as early as the next month.
With the loss of patents for so many of its important drugs, the future growth of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has always been a cause of concern. Astra-Zeneca’s revenues also took a slide of 6% in Q4 of fiscal 2013. The company expects that sales this year, will continue to slide as well, but is relying on a strong and promising pipeline to turn things around. It has also been working in partnership and on its own, to manufacture drugs that uses the body’s immune system to fight off cancer cells.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s CEO, Ian Read has shown interest saying that the company will never say never to a larger acquisition that bodes well.
Despite the fact that neither side have made comments about any bid, Astra could be well up for an acquisition, by Swiss pharma giants Novartis AG or by another British company, GlaxoSmithKline Plc.
