AstraZeneca denies drugs supply is drying up as it buys Acerta stake

AstraZeneca’s chief has insisted the company was not buying revenues because its drugs pipeline had dried up, as it snapped up a majority stake in Acerta for $4 billion (£2.7 billion).

Pascal Soriot said Astra was not having to buy rivals because its drugs pipeline was falling short.

“These deals are not substitutive, they are additional. We stand by our forecasts that we will have $45 billion of revenue by 2023,” he said.

The drugmaker’s chief added that the deal, its third in three weeks, showed commitment to strengthen its oncology portfolio.

Soriot hopes Acerta’s acalabrutinib could be “best in class” in the treatment of blood cancers.

AstraZeneca has the option to buy the rest of Acerta — when the first approval of the cancer drug in the US and Europe has been gained — for about $3 billion.

Scientists believe that acalabrutinib, which is in the most advanced form of clinical trial, could have annual sales of more than $5 billion a year.

The British pharma company, which rejected a takeover bid from United States giant Pfizer last year, is seeking to rebuild its portfolio as many of its key drugs are no longer under patent.

In November, Astra agreed to buy ZS Pharma for $2.7 billion and this week snapped up lung cancer treatment specialist Takeda for $575 million.