AstraZeneca Delays FTC Review For $39B Alexion Deal

AstraZeneca is resetting the clock to give the Federal Trade Commission more time to review its roughly US$39 billion bid for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, the latter company disclosed Monday, March 15.

In the biggest biopharma deal this year, AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire Alexion Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-based company specializing in rare disease drugs, for US$39 billion.

The deal, which is expected to close sometime between July and September, would have AstraZeneca hand over US$60 in cash and roughly 2.1 American Depositary Shares — each one-half the value of an ordinary AstraZeneca share — for every share of Alexion.

Alexion’s first product, Soliris, which in 2007 became the only FDA-approved treatment for a rare and potentially life-threatening blood disorder called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. For years, Soliris ranked as one of the world’s most expensive medicines, with a list price in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Since then, Soliris has been approved to treat three more rare conditions. Alexion has also added four more drugs to its portfolio — one of which, Ultomiris, is meant to offset encroaching challenges to Soliris from generic competition. During the first nine months of this year, Alexion recorded almost US$4.5 billion in net sales, an increase of 24% from the same period in 2019.

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