AstraZeneca shareholders urged not to act on Pfizer’s €71bn bid

Britain’s AstraZeneca has urged its shareholders to take no action over the approach by US drugmaker Pfizer and said, yesterday, it remained confident in its independent strategy.

Pfizer said earlier yesterday it had made a £58.8bn (€71.3bn) bid approach to AstraZeneca in January and had contacted its British rival again on Saturday seeking further discussions about a takeover.

“In this discussion, the chairman of Pfizer did not make a specific proposal regarding an offer to acquire AstraZeneca,” Astra said yesterday.