Drug industry consolidation took another twist on Thursday as AstraZeneca (LON:AZN, NYSE:AZN) confirmed it was buying a majority stake in a Dutch-US rival for US$4bn.
AstraZeneca said it was taking a 55% interest in Acerta Pharma, which is developing a drug known as acalabrutinib to treat blood cancer and solid tumours.
The agreement also includes options which, if exercised, would allow AstraZeneca to buy the rest of the privately owned firm's shares for a further US$3bn.
Acalabrutinib (ACP-196) is in phase III development for B-cell blood cancers and in phase I/II clinical trials in multiple solid tumours.
Acerta hopes to make initial regulatory submissions for acalabrutinib in the second half of 2016 to treat patients with specific types of haematological malignancies.
With further expansion into B-cell cancers, the drug is estimated to reach peak-year sales of more than US$5bn globally.
The deal for Acerta, which has about 150 staff, is expected to complete by the end of the first quarter of 2016, subject to closing conditions.
The agreement is expected to be moderately dilutive to AstraZeneca's core earnings in the near term.
AstraZeneca's chief executive Pascal Soriot said: "We are boosting a key area in our comprehensive oncology portfolio with a late-stage, potential best-in-class medicine that could transform treatment for patients across a range of blood cancers."
The deal is the latest in a string of takeovers and acquisitions in the drug industry as the likes of AstraZeneca, Shire (LON:SHP) and others try to refresh their line-ups of new drugs.
The companies are facing competition from generic drug producers as patents on older drugs expire.