AstraZeneca to purchase Omthera Pharmaceuticals

AstraZeneca has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the specialist healthcare company Omthera Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth up to $443 million (293.97 million pounds).

Omthera is based in New Jersey and focuses on the development and commercialisation of new therapies for dyslipidaemia, a condition characterised by abnormal levels of lipids in the blood.

It is currently working on a product called Epanova – for the potential treatment of patients with very high triglycerides – which has demonstrated a positive performance in phase III trials and can be submitted for regulatory approval soon.

AstraZeneca has identified Epanova as a strategically important new product and intends to press ahead with its clinical development following the completion of the acquisition.

Pascal Soriot, chief executive officer of AstraZeneca, said: "This is an exciting acquisition that clearly complements our existing portfolio in cardiovascular and metabolic disease, one of our core therapy areas."

This comes after AstraZeneca's biologics research and development arm MedImmune agreed a deal to acquire the biotechnology company AlphaCore Pharma last month.