British pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca has approached US rival Gilead Sciences over a possible record merger, Bloomberg reported, as the pair spearhead treatments for Covid-19.
AstraZeneca informally contacted Gilead last month, Sunday’s report said, adding that a combined group would be worth a record-breaking US$236 billion when taking into account the companies’ closing valuations Friday.
That was trimmed Monday, with AstraZeneca’s share price down 2.14% at the start of London trading.
Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir has been shown to help severely ill coronavirus patients, while AstraZeneca is trialing a Covid-19 vaccine.
– AFP