A spokeswoman for AstraZeneca said the company does not comment on rumours or speculation.
If combined, the two companies would have a market capitalization of about $232 billion , based on Friday’s closing stock levels.Two sources familiar with AstraZeneca’s thinking questioned the rationale of a tie-up, telling Reuters Gilead’s remdesivir for COVID-19 patients was insufficient to justify pursuing a multi-billion deal that would detract from AstraZeneca’s work on a coronavirus vaccine.
AstraZeneca’s top-selling product is its lung cancer drug Tagrisso, which generated revenues of $982 million in the first quarter.Gilead’s biggest blockbuster is HIV drug Biktarvy, with sales of $1.69 billion in the first quarter. More than 6.90 million people have been reported infected with the coronavirus globally and 399,025 have died, a Reuters tally showed on Sunday.