by George Freeman
Amid all the politics, we need to remember a few truths about Pfizer’s proposed takeover of Astra Zeneca, because it embodies the revolution transforming the pharmaceutical industry.
Big pharma is struggling to develop new medicines. Its business model, dependent on blockbuster drugs, is broken. The companies now rely on smaller, more innovative biotechs (and increasingly charities) to fill their pipelines.
Different companies respond in different ways. Astra Zeneca electrified the sector last year by embracing the government’s life sciences industrial strategy, moving its staff to the Cambridge biotech and hospital campus. Pfizer, meanwhile, is known in the sector as the leading exponent of the buy-it-in model — delivering shareholder returns by acquisition.
In either case, the success of Britain’s strategy was demonstrated when they announced