AstraZeneca to buy Canadian cancer specialist Fusion for $2.4bn

Britain’s biggest drugmaker’s latest acquisition will help it to develop new radiotherapy treatments

Britain’s biggest drugmaker, AstraZeneca, is to buy a Canadian cancer specialist focused on next-generation treatments for $2.4bn. (£1.9bn), the latest in a string of acquisitions made to strengthen its portfolio of new medicines.

The Anglo-Swedish company has struck an agreement to acquire Fusion Pharmaceuticals, which is developing next-generation radioconjugates that offer an alternative to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It has emerged as a new type of cancer treatment in recent years, and delivers a radioactive isotope directly to cancer cells through precise targeting using molecules such as antibodies, peptides or small molecules.

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