Pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca has sold its entire 7.7% stake in U.S. biotech firm Moderna, raking in a revenue of more than $1 billion as a result. The English-Swedish company is looking to use the income from the sale to expand its own internal operations, namely by developing its own pipeline of drugs. In addition, AstraZeneca is looking to complete a $39 billion acquisition of the Boston-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
AstraZeneca’s decision to sell its shares in Moderna came at an opportune time, particularly since shares in the Massachusetts-based biotech company soared more than five times in value since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Following the development of its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna became a leader in the race to put a halt to the coronavirus pandemic. Its vaccine was one of the first to earn emergency use approval in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.
AstraZeneca first invested in Moderna eight years ago, when Chief Executive Pascal Soriot decided to inject a capital investment of $240 million in the Cambridge, Mass.-based company as a means of gaining access to the startup’s know-how in manipulating RNA (a method of creating proteins inside cells).
