AstraZeneca has slipped back in a rising market after a delay to the launch of a diabetes treatment.
The US Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a combination of saxagliptin and dapagligiozin and said more clinical data was required. When AstraZeneca successfully defended itself against a $118bn takeover attempt by Pfizer, the company forecast the combination could produce peak revenues of £3bn.
The FDA wanted more data from existing clinical trials and could also want information from new studies.
The news has seen AstraZeneca’s shares slip 1.5p to 4119.5p. Meanwhile the FTSE 100 is currently 49.12 points or 0.78% higher at 6387.79.
Still with the pharmaceuticals sector, and Shire is up 116p at £44.91 in the wake of overnight reports it could be interested in US drug developer Radius Health.
