AstraZeneca to acquire Alexion Pharmaceuticals for £29.50 billion

AstraZeneca plc (LON: AZN) said on Saturday that it will buy Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN) for £29.50 billion. The acquisition marks the largest for the British pharmaceutical giant in history. As per AstraZeneca, bringing the U.S. drug manufacturer under its umbrella will help diversify its portfolio and expand its footprint in rare-disease and immunology drugs. On the weekly chart, Alexion’s stock closed roughly 1% up on Friday. The Boston-based company is more than 10% up year to date in the stock market. At the time of writing, it has a market capitalisation of £20 billion and a price to earnings