AstraZeneca pips Actelion to buy ZS Pharma for $2.7 billion

Britain's AstraZeneca has agreed to buy US biotech company ZS Pharma for $2.7 billion, pipping Swiss firm Actelion to the prize in the latest bout of deal-making for the hyperactive healthcare sector.

AstraZeneca, which on Thursday lifted its full-year earnings forecast despite the eroding sales of some of its top-selling medicines, said it would pay $90 a share to secure ZS Pharma’s proprietary technology to develop novel treatments for hyperkalemia, or high potassium levels.

"This acquisition complements our strategic focus on cardiovascular and metabolic disease by adding a potential best-in-class treatment to our portfolio of innovative medicines," AstraZeneca's chief executive Pascal Soriot said.

Astra said the deal would not impact its financial guidance for 2015. – (Reuters)