AstraZeneca to buy Arrow for $150M in cash

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire privately-held UK biotechnology firm Arrow Therapeutics for $150.0 million in cash, subject to debt and working capital adjustment. The transaction, which is expected to close early in 2007, will bolster AstraZeneca's portfolio of anti-infectives and fits its decision to re-focus its disease area research with infection and antibacterials. Arrow's antiviral prorgams include two hepatitis C virus drugs which both target the novel NS5a protein, including A-831, which is in Phase I tests, as well as Arrow's most advanced compound, currently in Phase II development and partnered with Novartis. RSV604 is a first-in-class, small-molecule, oral drug for respiratory syncytial virus.