AstraZeneca Plc took a further step to bolster its pipeline of new cancer drugs on Monday by agreeing to acquire privately held U.S. biotech company Amplimmune for up to $500 million.
The deal is the second within 24 hours in the cancer drug space, following Amgen Inc's much larger acquisition of Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc for about $10.4 billion.
Amplimmune specialises in developing treatments designed to help the immune system fight cancer and the purchase will give AstraZeneca access to a number of compounds currently in pre-clinical development.