The story
Astra AB was founded in 1913 in Södertälje, Sweden, by 400 doctors and apothecaries. In 1993 the British chemicals company ICI (established from four British chemical companies) demerged its pharmaceuticals businesses and its agrochemicals and specialities businesses, to form Zeneca Group PLC. Finally, in 1999 Astra and Zeneca Group merged to form AstraZeneca plc, with its headquarters in London. In 1999, AstraZeneca identified a new location for the company's US base, the "Fairfax-plus" site in North Wilmington, Delaware.
2000–2006
In September 2002, its drug Iressa (gefitinib) was approved in Japan as monotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer. On 3 January 2004 Dr Robert Nolan, a former director of AstraZeneca, formed the management team of ZI Medical.
In December 2005, the company acquired KuDOS Pharmaceuticals, a UK biotech company, for £120 million. That same year, the firm also became a Diamond Member of the Pennsylvania Bio commerce organisation.
In May 2006, following a collaborative relationship begun in 2004, AstraZeneca acquired Cambridge Antibody Technology for £702 million.
2007–2012: The patent cliff and subsequent acquisitions
In February 2007, AstraZeneca agreed to buy Arrow Therapeutics, a company focused on the discovery and development of anti-viral therapies, for US$150 million. AstraZeneca's pipeline, and "patent cliff", was the subject of much speculation in April 2007 leading to pipeline-boosting collaboration and acquisition activities. A few days later AstraZeneca acquired US company MedImmune for about US$15.2 billion to gain flu vaccines and an anti-viral treatment for infants; AstraZeneca subsequently consolidated all of its biologics operations into a dedicated biologics division called MedImmune.
In December 2009, AstraZeneca acquired Novexel Corp, an antibiotics discovery company formed in 2004 as a spin-off of the Sanofi-Aventis anti-infectives division. Astra acquired the experimental antibiotic NXL-104 (CEF104) (CAZ-AVI) through this acquisition.
In December 2011, AstraZeneca acquired Guangdong BeiKang Pharmaceutical Company, a Chinese generics business.
In February 2012, AstraZeneca and Amgen announced a collaboration on treatments for inflammatory diseases. Then in April 2012, AstraZeneca acquired Ardea Biosciences, another biotechnology company, for $1.26 billion. In June 2012, AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb announced a two-stage deal for the joint acquisition of the biotechnology company Amylin Pharmaceuticals. It was agreed that Bristol Myers Squibb would acquire Amylin for $5.3 billion in cash and the assumption of $1.7 billion in debt, with AstraZeneca then paying $3.4 billion in cash to Bristol Myers Squibb, and Amylin being folded into an existing diabetes joint venture between AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb.
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2013
In March 2013, AstraZeneca announced plans for a major corporate restructuring, including the closure of its research and development activities at Alderley Park in Cheshire and Loughborough in the UK and at Lund in Sweden, investment of $500 million in the construction of a new research and development facility in Cambridge and the concentration of R&D in three locations: Cambridge, Gaithersburg, Maryland (location of MedImmune, where it will work on biotech drugs), and Gothenburg in Sweden, for research on traditional chemical drugs. AstraZeneca also announced that it would move its corporate headquarters from London to Cambridge in 2016. That announcement included the announcement that it would cut 1,600 jobs; three days later it announced it would cut an additional 2,300 jobs. It also announced that it would focus on three therapeutic areas: Respiratory Inflammation & Autoimmunity, Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease, and Oncology. In October 2013, AstraZeneca announced it would acquire biotech oncology company Spirogen for around US$440 million.
2014
On 19 May 2014, AstraZeneca rejected a "final offer" from Pfizer of £55 per share, which valued the company at £69.4 billion (US$117 billion). The companies had been meeting since January 2014. If the takeover had proceeded, Pfizer would have become the world's biggest drug maker. The transaction would also have been the biggest foreign takeover of a British company. Many in Britain, including politicians and scientists, had opposed the deal. In July 2014 the company entered into a deal with Almirall to acquire its subsidiary Almirall Sofotec and its lung treatments including the COPD drug, Eklira. The US$2.1 billion deal included an allocation of US$1.2 billion for development in the respiratory franchise, one of AstraZeneca's three target therapeutic areas announced the year before. In August 2014 the company announced it had entered into a three-year collaboration with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma on diabetic nephropathy.
In September 2014, the company joined forces with Eli Lilly in developing and commercialising its candidate BACE inhibitor – AZD3292 – used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease; this deal was projected to yield up to US$500 million AstraZeneca. In November 2014, the firm's biologics R&D operation, MedImmune, agreed to acquire Definiens for more than US$150 million. It also began a Phase I/II trial collaboration with Pharmacyclics and Janssen Biotech investigating combination treatments. Also in November, AstraZeneca agreed to sell its lipodystrophy treatment business to Aegerion Pharmaceuticals for more than US$325 million. In December, the company received accelerated FDA approval for Olaparib in the treatment of women with advanced ovarian cancer who have a BRCA genetic mutation. A major criterion governing the drugs approval was, on average, its ability to shrink tumours in patients for 7.9 months.
2015
In February 2015, AstraZeneca announced it would acquire the US and Canadian rights to Actavis's branded respiratory drug business for an initial sum of US$600 million. That same month, the company announced a partnership with Orca Pharmaceuticals to develop retinoic acid-related orphan nuclear receptor gamma inhibitors for use in the treatment of several autoimmune diseases, which could generate up to US$122.5 million for Orca. The company also announced its plan to spend US$40 million creating a new subsidiary focused on small molecule anti-infectives – primarily in the research of the gyrase inhibitor, AZD0914, which was then in Phase II testing for the treatment of gonorrhea. The company underwrote twenty out of thirty-two seats of a new Cambridge– Gothenburg service by Sun-Air of Scandinavia.
In March, the company stated that it would co-commercialise naloxegol along with Daiichi Sankyo in a deal worth up to US$825 million. In April, the firm announced a number of collaborations worth an estimated US$1.8 billion; first, to develop and commercialise MEDI4736, with Celgene, for use against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, myelodysplastic syndromes, and multiple myeloma with AstraZeneca receiving US$450 million. The second of two deals is an agreement to study a combination treatment of MEDI4736 and Innate Pharma's Phase II anti-NKG2A antibody IPH2201 for up to US$1.275 billion. The company's MedImmune arm also launched collaborative clinical trials with Juno Therapeutics, investigating combination treatments for cancer; these trials involved combinations of MEDI4736 and one of Juno Therapeutics' CD19 directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell candidates. In June, the company revealed a partnership with Eolas Therapeutics on the Eolas Orexin-1 Receptor Antagonist (EORA) program for smoking cessation and other treatments. In July, AstraZeneca announced the sale of its rights to Entocort (budesonide) to Tillotts Pharma for $215 million. In July, Genzyme announced it would acquire the rare cancer drug Caprelsa (vandetanib) from AstraZeneca for up to US$300 million.
In August, the company announced it had acquired the global rights to develop and commercialise Heptares Therapeutics' drug candidate HTL-1071, which focuses on blocking the adenosine A2A receptor, in a deal worth up to US$510 million. That same month, the company's MedImmune subsidiary acquired exclusive rights to Inovio Pharmaceuticals' INO-3112 immunotherapy under an agreement which could net more than US$727.5 million for Inovio. INO-3112 targets Human papillomavirus types 16 and 18. In September, Valeant licensed Brodalumab from the company for up to US$445 million. On 6 November, it was reported that AstraZeneca had acquired ZS Pharma for US$2.7 billion. In December, the company announced its intention to acquire the respiratory portfolio of Takeda Pharmaceutical – namely Alvesco and Omnaris – for US$575 million A day later, the company announced it had taken a 55% majority stake in Acerta Pharma for US$4 billion; the transaction included commercial rights to Acerta Pharma's irreversible oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, acalabrutinib (ACP-196), which under development at that time. In 2015, AstraZenica was the eighth-largest drug company in the world based on sales revenue.
2017
In July 2017, the company's CEO Pascal Soriot said that Brexit would not affect its commitment to its current plans in the United Kingdom. However, it had slowed decision making for new investment projects waiting for a post-Brexit regulatory regime to settle down. Two months later, the firm's chairman Leif Johansson planned in taking the "first steps" in moving its research and manufacturing operations away from the United Kingdom, if there is a hard Brexit. Soon after, executive vice president Pam Cheng stated that AstraZeneca had ignited startup of duplicate QA testing facility in Sweden and has initiated hiring in Sweden.
In 2017, it was the eleventh largest drug company in the world based on sales and ranked seventh based on R&D investment.
2018
In February 2018, AstraZeneca announced it was spinning off six early-stage experimental drugs into a new biotechnology company, known as Viela Bio, valued at US$250 million. On 6 December 2018, AstraZeneca purchased nearly 8% of the American pharmaceutical business, Moderna.
2019
In March 2019, AstraZeneca announced it will pay up to US$6.9 billion to work with Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd on an experimental treatment for breast cancer. AstraZeneca plans to use some of the proceeds of a US$3.5 billion share issue to fund the deal. The deal on the drug known as trastuzumab deruxtecan sent shares in Japan's Daiichi soaring 16%.
In September 2019, the company announced that it would cease drug production at its German headquarters in Wedel, leading to the loss of 175 jobs by the end of 2021.
In October 2019, AstraZeneca announced it would sell the global commercial rights for its drug to treat acid reflux to German pharmaceutical company Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH for as much as US$276 million.
2020
In February 2020, AstraZeneca agreed to sublicense its global rights (except Europe, Canada and Israel) to the drug Movantik, to Redhill Biopharma. In June 2020, AstraZeneca made a preliminary approach to Gilead Sciences about a potential merger, worth almost US$240 billion. However, these plans were subsequently dropped because it would have distracted the company from its own pipeline and ongoing COVID-19 vaccine efforts. In July 2020, the business entered into its second collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo, centred around the development of DS-1062, an antibody drug conjugate. The deal could potentially be worth up to US$6 billion for Daiichi. In September 2020, AstraZeneca acquired the preclinical oral PCSK9 inhibitor program from Dogma Therapeutics. On 27 December 2020, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said that it has "figured out the winning formula" with their two-dose system with the Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine. Three days later, the United Kingdom approved the emergency use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
2021
In July 2021, AstraZeneca acquired Alexion Pharmaceuticals. In October 2021, the company, through Alexion, acquired Caelum Biosciences and its monoclonal treatment (CAEL-101) for light chain (AL) amyloidosis for up to $500 million.
2022
In July 2022, the company announced it would acquire TeneoTwo for up to $1.3 billion, increasing its blood cancer drug offering. In October 2022, it was announced that it would acquire LogicBio Therapeutics, which was active in clinical-stage genomic medicine.
In November 2022, it was announced AstraZeneca had acquired the Amsterdam-headquartered clinical-stage biotechnology company, Neogene Therapeutics.
2023
In January, AstraZeneca announced it would acquire CinCor Pharma for $1.8 billion.
In November 2023, AstraZeneca launched a new global health tech business, Evinova, that focused on provide global services to CROs and pharma companies to design, run and monitor clinical trials.
In December 2023, AstraZeneca announced that it would acquire an RSV vaccine developer, Icosavax for $1.1 billion. Later that month, AstraZeneca agreed to acquire clinical-stage biopharmaceutical developer of cell therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, Gracell Biotechnologies, in a deal valued at up to $1.2 billion. Both the acquisitions were completed in February 2024.
2024
In March 2024, AstraZeneca announced it would acquire Amolyt Pharma in exchange for $1.05 billion. That same month, the firm also announced the acquisition of Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc for $2 billion in cash.
In July 2024, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) blocked the National Health Service (NHS) from providing Enhertu, an innovative treatment for advanced HER2-low breast cancer, due to AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo not offering a low enough price. Nice's decision, the first rejection of a breast cancer treatment in six years, highlighted the financial challenges of funding complex medicines, with Enhertu costing £117,857 per treatment course. Despite approval by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, Nice's non-recommendation meant the drug could only be available privately or under separate funding in Scotland. Clinical trials showed Enhertu extended patients' lives by five months compared to chemotherapy, but Nice and the companies could not agree on a new price.
In February 2024, the chief executive faced criticism from corporate governance experts and AstraZeneca investors regarding his excessive pay.
In December 2024, the company announced the appointment of Rene Haas and Birgit Conix to its board as non-executive directors. Both appointments will be effective from January 2025 and February 2025 respectively.
2025
In January 2025, the company announced the withdrawal of plans to expand its vaccine manufacturing site in Liverpool, England. In March 2025, the company told the UK Business and Trade Select Committee that the government failed to make a proposed £75 million grant by August 2025, saying "When the offer emerged in October of support to the tune of £75 million, that didn’t then support the revised business case with the new timelines sufficiently.".
In March 2025, AstraZeneca announced the acquisition of Belgian biotech company EsoBiotec for up to $1 billion to enhance its cancer treatment capabilities through EsoBiotec's in vivo cell therapy platform.
In July 2025, AstraZeneca announced plans to invest $50 billion in the United States by 2030.
2026
In January 2026, it was announced that AstraZeneca agreed to acquire Modella AI, a Boston-based artificial intelligence company, to support its oncology research and development activities. The acquisition expands an existing collaboration between the companies and is intended to integrate Modella AI’s data models and analytical tools into AstraZeneca’s clinical development and biomarker discovery efforts. Financial terms were undisclosed.
On January 20, 2026, the company was replaced by Walmart in the Nasdaq-100 index. Simultaneously, it was announced that the company's American depositary receipts will be delisted from the American Nasdaq exchange starting on January 30 and switch to the New York Stock Exchange with a direct listing of ordinary shares starting on February 2.
In July 2026, AstraZeneca entered into a licensing deal with CSPC Pharmaceutical Group worth up to $1.77 billion to discover and develop experimental medicines for kidney diseases. Under the agreement, CSPC would receive a $30 million upfront payment and up to approximately $1.74 billion in additional milestone payments tied to development and sales targets. AstraZeneca secured the option to obtain exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise one preclinical small nucleic acid drug candidate globally, and a second candidate outside China.
In August 2026, AstraZeneca held talks with Bristol Myers Squibb over a potential merger worth nearly $400 billion, but the deal ultimately did not go ahead.
From Wikipedia’s article on AstraZeneca, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8