Saturday’s deal by
Alexion Pharmaceuticals brings a franchise in rare immune disorders to Astra, while also bringing to a close a campaign by discontented Alexion stockholders to get the company sold.
AstraZeneca’s $39 billion payment in cash and stock was valued at $175 per share of Alexion, and the stock of Alexion (ticker: ALXN) jumped 30% on Monday’s open, to $157. Shares of AstraZeneca (AZN) slipped 6.3%, however, to $50.88.
The deal will just about use up AstraZeneca’s capital available for deal-making. Investors have mixed feelings.
Although Alexion enjoys strong cash flow from treatments for disorders in a part of the immune system known as the complement, SVB Leerink analyst Andrew Berens raised concerns about expiring patents on Alexion’s big-selling drug Soliris. He said, though, that before that becomes a problem, the addition of Alexion could nearly double AstraZeneca’s cash flow in the next five years.