AZ for $100bn? Pfizer could buy Azerbaijan and keep the change

Last weekend the UK’s Sunday Times reported that Pfizer had had a £60bn ($101bn) takeover bid rejected by AstraZeneca, citing unnamed "sources close to the matter​."

Neither firm would comment on “market speculation or rumours”​ when approached by in-Pharmatechnologist.com. US shares in AstraZeneca were up 6% yesterday, and UK share price shot up this morning following the reopening of the London Stock Exchange following the Easter break.

Pfizer has a history of billion dollar acqusitions starting in 2000 when it bought Warner Lambert. In 2003 it stumped up $7.1bn for Pharmacia and - in 2009 - paid a whopping $68bn for Wyeth.

But even with this track record, Pfizer's rumoured offer for AstraZeneca is huge. For $100bn Pfizer could clear the UK’s national debt, according to data provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)​, or - theoretically – buy a different AZ, Azerbaijan, whose National GDP currently stands at just under $74bn.

Therefore, it is safe to assume that a $100bn bid means Pfizer sees potential in AstraZeneca, assuming the unnamed folks cited by the Times know what they are talking about.

So what would it get for its money? According to AstraZeneca’s annual report, its drug portfolio is worth $25bn and, although this is down 8% on 2012, the firm has a growing late-stage pipeline and has invested heavily in bolt-on acquisitions and technologies.

In the last year, AstraZeneca shelled out $200m for Spirogen​ to access its antibody-drug conjugate technology. Prior to that it bolstered its biologics pipeline with the $225m acquisition of Amplimmune.

And in the respiratory space AstraZeneca bought Pearl Therapeutics for $1.5bn, and paid $323m for Omthera Pharmaceuticals to boost its cardiovascular offerings.

We’ve put together an interactive infographic to show some of the therapeutic and manufacturing assets that may be attracting Pfizer to open its wallet up.