UK drugmaker AstraZeneca is in talks to combine with US rival Bristol Myers Squibb in a deal that would create one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical groups, valued at nearly $400bn.
The companies have held discussions about a tie-up in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks could yield a deal in the near future but may be delayed or fall apart, the people said.
AstraZeneca, the UK’s second most valuable listed company, has a market value of about £196bn, while BMS is worth roughly $133bn. A combination of the two would be among the biggest pharmaceutical deals of all time, and propel the combined entity to become the world’s fourth-largest drugmaker by market capitalisation.
The talks come after FTSE 100 company AstraZeneca completed a direct listing in New York in June, in a blow to the London stock market.
Bristol is preparing for the loss of patent protection for some of its biggest products, including the blood thinner Eliquis and cancer drug Opdivo. Together, they make up about half of Bristol’s sales.
Last week, Bristol reported quarterly sales of $13 billion, its highest ever. The growth was primarily driven by newer products like the blood cancer treatment Breyanzi, Opdualag for skin cancer and the heart drug Camzyos.
AstraZeneca has set an ambitious revenue target of $80bn by 2030, compared with the $58.7bn it generated last year. That level of growth would depend heavily on the US market, where the company already earns nearly half of its revenues.
Any combination would come under tough antitrust scrutiny, given that both have large cancer divisions. Evan Seigerman, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said in a note on Sunday that the “significant business overlap” between the pharma groups’ cancer drug portfolios “could reduce the odds of a successful merger”.
Will an AstraZeneca–BMS transaction face antitrust intervention that delays or prevents closing by the end of 2027?
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/e9027253-e13c-460a-a4b1-f9047e5a6ca7?syn-25a6b1a6=1
