Leading COVID-19 vaccine developer AstraZeneca agreed on Saturday, December 12, to buy Boston pharmaceutical firm Alexion for US$39 billion, reported The Wall Street Journal.
The acquisition is one of the largest deals of the year for the drug industry and would expand AstraZeneca’s reach in rare diseases. Alexion has an immunology unit in Boston that serves patients with rare disorders.
AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish drugmaker headquartered in the United Kingdom, has partnered with the University of Oxford to produce a COVID-19 vaccine. It’s in the final stages of development and is awaiting authorization from European and British governments. Last month, the company found its vaccine was 70% effective on average, but scientific experts raised concerns over a lack of transparency in reporting the vaccine trial data, potentially slowing down the timeline for approval.
AstraZeneca agreed to pay for the purchase with a mix of cash and stock, and said it took out a short-term loan of US$17.5 billion from Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman Sachs to help pay for it.
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