Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

AstraZeneca PLC / Omthera Pharmaceuticals Inc.

2013 · Acquisition/Merger · $443M · Complete

CALLED IT — OFF BY 9

AstraZeneca's $443M bet on Epanova ended in a $533M full impairment and US market withdrawal after the drug's own cardiovascular outcomes trial failed in 2020 — a near-total loss.

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The coverage arc

May 06, 2014 Outsourced Pharma Bullish

Epanova won FDA approval as the first free-fatty-acid omega-3, validating Omthera's CMC differentiation thesis and AstraZeneca's NDA-ready acquisition…

Jan 15, 2020 New Atlas Bearish

Independent coverage framed STRENGTH's failure as a major setback that called into question the broader omega-3 CV class — diverging sharply from the positive…

Jan 15, 2020 Wikipedia (encyclopedic synthesis citing AdisInsight, FDA label) Bearish

AstraZeneca terminated Phase III development and ultimately withdrew Epanova from market — closing out the Omthera acquisition thesis at a net loss versus the…

Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.

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AstraZeneca to acquire Omthera for $323M upfront cash + up to $120M dev/approval milestones (total $443M); added NDA-ready Epanova omega-3 dyslipidemia treatment.

Did it work? Outcome assessment

AstraZeneca's $443M bet on Epanova ended in a $533M full impairment and US market withdrawal after the drug's own cardiovascular outcomes trial failed in 2020 — a near-total loss.

Strategic verdict
Failed to Achieve
Financial impact
Impaired/Written Down
Pipeline outcome
Assets Terminated

Key facts

Related deals — scored

DealYearValueOutcome
AstraZeneca PLC / Omthera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (this deal)2013$443M16
AstraZeneca PLC / Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited2019$6.9B100
AstraZeneca PLC / KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Limited2005$210M98
AstraZeneca PLC / Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.2020$39.0B86
AstraZeneca PLC / Acerta Pharma2015$4.0B86
AstraZeneca PLC / Amgen Inc.2020$2.3B84
AstraZeneca PLC / MedImmune Inc.2007$15.6B82

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