AstraZeneca is Acquiring Alexion

The British-Swedish Pharma major AstraZeneca has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alexion Pharmaceuticals. AstraZeneca is spending approximately $39 billion for the purchase.

According to the deal, Alexion shareholders will receive $60 in cash and 2.1243 AstraZeneca American Depositary Shares (ADSs). The deal was approved by the boards of directors of both companies. The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2021. Upon completion of the purchase, Alexion shareholders will own c.15% of the combined company.

Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, said: "Alexion has established itself as a leader in complement biology, bringing life-changing benefits to patients with rare diseases. This acquisition allows us to enhance our presence in immunology. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues at Alexion so that we can together build on our combined expertise in immunology and precision medicines to drive innovation that delivers life-changing medicines for more patients."

AstraZeneca will work with Alexion's R&D team to build on Alexion’s pipeline of 11 molecules across more than 20 clinical-development programmes across the spectrum of indications, in rare diseases, and beyond.

Together the two companies will deliver rapidly-converging, patient-centric models of care delivery with combined strengths in immunology, biologics, genomics and oligonucleotides to drive future medicine innovation.