AstraZeneca Plc laid out its defence against Pfizer Inc's $106-billion takeover approach on Tuesday by predicting its sales would rise by three quarters over the next decade, although only after a short-term drop.With promising new medicines expected to lift annual revenue above $45 billion by 2023, up from $25.7 billion in 2013, selling out to the U.S. group now would deprive investors of huge gains, it argued."The increasingly visible success of our independent strategy highlights the future prospects for our shareholders," said Chairman Leif Johansson. "These are benefits that should fully accrue to AstraZeneca's shareholders."Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said plunging AstraZeneca into a disruptive merger would also jeopardise its ability to deliver on the new drug pipeline, which is expected to account for 30 percent of the 2023 sales total.
AstraZeneca PLC (AstraZeneca) is a global biopharmaceutical company. Shares of AZN fell by 0.6% or $-0.48/share to $79.39. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $46.87 and as high as $82.68. On average, 3546180 shares of AZN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3250452.
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