AZ unloads antibiotics to Pfizer

Just days after shelling out US$14bn (€12.4bn) for fought-over Californian biotech Medivation, Pfizer is taking AstraZeneca’s antibiotics business off the British-Swedish pharma company’s hands. AZ will get up to US$1.5bn (€1,32bn) out of the deal. This agreement reinforces our strategic focus to invest in our three main therapy areas, stressed Luke Miels, Executive VP for Europe and Head of the Antibiotics Business Unit at AstraZeneca.

Under the agreement, AstraZeneca sells the commercialisation and development rights to its late-stage small molecule antibiotics business in most markets globally outside the US. The portfolio comprises the…