AstraZeneca has agreed to buy its first vaccine company for £875million.
The deal to takeover Icosavax will expand the infectious disease business the pharma giant set up during the pandemic.
Britain’s biggest drugmaker said it will take over the Seattle-based group, which is developing an injection that targets both respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV).
RSV is a leading cause of pneumonia in toddlers and the elderly, while hMPV causes very similar respiratory tract infections.
The deal thrusts AstraZeneca into competition with arch rival GSK as well as Pfizer and Moderna as they battle to create a commercially successful RSV jab.
AstraZeneca said it will take over Seattle-based Icosavax, which is developing an injection that targets both respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus
There are no treatments or vaccines available to combat hMPV. Iskra Reic, the head of AstraZeneca’s vaccines unit, said she was ‘very excited’ about the opportunity to provide protection ‘specifically to the elderly population’ for two of the leading causes of hospitalisation.
AstraZeneca stormed onto the global vaccine stage with its jab for Covid-19. But it faces mounting questions over the shot.
The company is being sued in the High Court in a test case which could pave the way for as many as 80 damages claims worth an estimated £80million related to its Covid jab.
But Adam Barker, head of healthcare equity research at wealth manager Goodbody, said the latest deal with Icosavax was ‘interesting’ and showed that AstraZeneca’s focus was on several types of diseases
Daniel Chancellor, senior healthcare analyst at R&D intelligence group Citeline, added: ‘The acquisition is more symbolic than transformational for its vaccine business.
‘Its [Astra’s] core business is very much going to remain in oncology, cardiometabolic, immunology and rare diseases.’
The deal is expected to close at the start of next year. The move comes as AstraZeneca continues its deal-making spree.
Last month, the Cambridge-based firm revealed it entered the race to develop a weight-loss drug after striking a £1.6billion agreement with a Chinese medical group.
AstraZeneca signed a licensing deal with Eccogene to create a pill, named ECC5004 designed to encourage the body to shed weight and lower glucose levels.
The push into weight loss drugs was sparked earlier this year when Danish medical group Novo Nordisk began selling Wegovy, a weekly injection, available on the NHS, that tricks the body into thinking it is full.
Demand exploded and Novo has been struggling to keep up, leaving a gap in the market.
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