Biggest Pharma Sector Deal Of 2020: AstraZeneca To Buy US-Based Biotech Major Alexion For $39 Billion

In a major deal, British pharmaceuticals behemoth AstraZeneca has announced that it is buying the United States (US) based biotechnology major Alexion at a price tag of $39 billion, reports Hindustan Times.

AstraZeneca, which has developed the Covishield vaccine in a partnership with the University of Oxford, has said that it is acquiring Alexion to boost its work on immunology.

As per AstraZeneca's chief executive Pascal Soroit, Alexion is an established leader in complement biology and has brought life-changing benefits to patients with rare diseases.

The $39 billion deal would mark the biggest such transaction in the pharma sector globally in the year 2020. It is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, and Alexion shareholders will own 15 percent of the combined company. It will give AstraZeneca a significant presence in areas such as treating blood disorders.

It should be noted that since taking over as the chief executive of AstraZeneca in 2012, Soriot has pushed the pharma major into lucrative businesses like cancer therapies.