CAMBRIDGE: AstraZeneca Plc has what it needs to keep growing beyond 2030 without a major acquisition, chief executive officer Pascal Soriot has said, weeks after speculation about a potential tie-up with Bristol Myers Squibb Co.
“We absolutely have what we need,” Soriot said ahead of the opening of Astra’s new research hub in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Soriot’s comments come after reports that Astra explored a potential combination with Bristol Myers triggered a share slide.
The transaction would have created one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
While he didn’t rule out dealmaking, Soriot said Astra’s existing pipeline is broad enough to propel growth well into the next decade.
“We are not a company that is satisfied with what we have. We always want to do better.”
But investors can become too focused on one or two experimental drugs while overlooking the breadth of Astra’s portfolio, he said.
Astra shares were unchanged on Monday, and have fallen 15% since the start of the year. The UK drugmaker has medicines in development across oncology, metabolic and rare diseases.
Astra assumes a 60% probability of success across its entire pipeline compared with about 75% in recent years with late-stage clinical trials that typically have a higher success rate. — Bloomberg
