Illumina (ILMN), a maker of DNA sequencing products, said Thursday that it has struck strategic partnerships with several big drugmakers to develop what it calls a universal next-generation sequencing-based oncology test system for cancer diagnosis. The initial strategic partners include AstraZeneca (AZN), Janssen Biotech and Sanofi (SNY). Illumina says the system will be used to conduct clinical trials for specific cancer therapies. It will help
AstraZeneca on Monday rejected Pfizer’s “final proposal” buyout offer of $117 billion. Shares of the British drug giant dived as investors seemed to lose hope that the merger of titans would ever take place. Pfizer (PFE) first revealed on April 28 that AstraZeneca (AZN) had rejected a proposal early this year, and a few days later made a higher bid of 50 British pounds per share, or about $106 billion. AstraZeneca turned Pfizer down
AstraZeneca (AZN) early Monday rejected a raised takeover bid from Pfizer (PFE), which Pfizer called its “final proposal” to the British drug giant. AstraZeneca stock tumbled 10% in morning trading on the stock market today, while Pfizer stock was up 1.3%. Late Sunday, Pfizer issued a press release saying that it had bid 55 pounds — about $92.50 — a share for AstraZeneca, for a total of $117 billion. The bid was not only about 15% higher than