AstraZeneca reveals a $1.0 billion deal with Pfizer

AstraZeneca plc (LON: AZN) was in focus on Friday after the pharma giant announced a deal worth up to $1.0 billion with its U.S. peer Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE).

Details of the AstraZeneca-Pfizer deal

The London-listed firm is buying a group of preclinical gene therapies from Pfizer to expand its footprint in rare diseases.

AstraZeneca expects the said transaction to complete in the third quarter of this year. Marc Dunoyer – the Chief Executive of Alexion (its rare-disease division) said in a press release today:

Genomic medicine has potential to be transformative and even curative for patients with devastating diseases.

The multinational spent a whopping $39 billion to acquire Alexion in 2021. It also paid a 660% premium last year to takeover LogicBio Therapeutics – a gene therapy developer based out of Lexington, U.S.A.

AstraZeneca beats expectations in Q2

Also on Friday, AstraZeneca plc reported a strong fiscal second quarter and reiterated its guidance for the full year that helped the stock end in the green.

The biotech giant expects its revenue to grow by up to 5.0% in 2023. Commenting on the company’s H1 performance, CEO Pascal Soriot said:

Each of our non-COVID-19 therapy areas saw double-digit growth. Our pipeline momentum continues with eight positive pivotal trails for our Oncology medicines so far this year.

Finally, AstraZeneca said Sharon Barr will replace Mene Pangalos as the Executive Vice President, Biopharmaceuticals R&D when he retires on August 1^st. Barr is currently the Head of R&D at Alexion.