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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1212)	12/8/1998 4:27:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1722

Zeneca and Astra in Merger Talks Tuesday December 8, 3:31 pm Eastern Time By PHIL GALEWITZ Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Two mid-sized European pharmaceutical companies, Zeneca (NYSE:ZEN - news) Group and Astra (NYSE:A - news), are negotiating merger that would transform them into one of the world's top ten drug makers. A Zeneca spokesman said Tuesday that executives are in ''advanced discussions'' of a deal described as a merger of equals. An Astra spokesman also confirmed the talks, though refused to elaborate. Zeneca, based in London and Astra, based in Sweden, have a combined stock value of $63 billion. Astra is best known as the maker of Prisolec, an ulcer and heart burn medication that is the world's best selling prescription drug. Zeneca is the second leading maker of cancer drugs behind Bristol (NYSE:BMY - news)-Myers Squibb of the United States. It also has a large agrochemical business. Both companies sell asthma and anesthesia drugs. The disclosure of the talks comes just a week after Germany's Hoescht and France's Rhone-Poulenc agreed to merge their drug and agrochemical businesses as the first step toward a total merger. A Zeneca spokesman would not elaborate on terms of any deal. Word of the talks sent both stock higher. Zeneca shares were up $4.25 to $45 and Astra rose $1.62 1/2 to $19.50 in New York Stock Exchange trading. Zeneca had $8.57 billion in sales in 1997 and has a current market value of $38.62 billion. Astra posted $5.68 billion in sales in 1997 and has a current market value of $24.48 billion. Pushing the merger mania among drug companies in Europe and the United States is the need to increase research spending to compete with giants such as Pfizer and Merck, and the desire to pool resources to boost marketing. Both Zeneca and Astra have been acquisition candidates because of their size, said David Molowa, an analyst with Bear Sterns. Separately they're not big enough to compete in a field of fast-growing competitors.