AstraZeneca approaches Gilead about potential merger

AstraZeneca Plc has approached rival drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc about a potential merger, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Any deal would bring together two of the companies leading the drug industry’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

AstraZeneca contacted Gilead last month and it did not provide the terms of any transaction, the report added.

A spokeswoman for AstraZeneca said the company does comment on rumours or speculation. Gilead did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gilead, AstraZeneca and several other drugmakers, including Eli Lilly and Co, Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co Inc, are racing to develop vaccines or treatments for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

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.