According to a source familiar with the matter, AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb have held preliminary discussions on a potential merger. If the deal is reached, it will create one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies with a total market value of nearly 400 billion US dollars. The anonymous source said the potential merger deal would face regulatory risks due to concerns about how the US antitrust agency under President Donald Trump would evaluate the deal. Trump has been working to boost domestic investment in the industry and expand the size of the US manufacturing industry. Although AstraZeneca announced plans to go public directly in the US last year to take advantage of higher valuations in the US market, such deals mean that a UK-based company will actually buy an American pharmaceutical giant.

According to a source familiar with the matter, AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb have held preliminary discussions on a potential merger. If the deal is reached, it will create one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies with a total market value of nearly 400 billion US dollars. The anonymous source said the potential merger deal would face regulatory risks due to concerns about how the US antitrust agency under President Donald Trump would evaluate the deal. Trump has been working to boost domestic investment in the industry and expand the size of the US manufacturing industry. Although AstraZeneca announced plans to go public directly in the US last year to take advantage of higher valuations in the US market, such deals mean that a UK-based company will actually buy an American pharmaceutical giant.