AstraZeneca Buys Out Diabetes Drug Partner

AstraZeneca will pay $2.7 billion in cash and up to $1.4 billion in milestone payments to acquire Bristol-Myers Squibb’s stake in a diabetes drug alliance. The firms formed the alliance in 2007 to develop two small-molecule diabetes drugs. One of them, saxagliptin, is approaching $1 billion in annual sales. The other, dapagliflozin, has yet to be approved in the U.S. Last year the alliance was expanded to include treatments from Amylin Pharmaceuticals, which the pair acquired for more than $5 billion. Astra­Zeneca CEO Pascal Soriot says his firm is well positioned to help treat diabetes in emerging markets, where the disease is reaching epidemic proportions.