VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Shares in drugmakers AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Shire (SHP.L) both fell more than 5 percent on Tuesday after the U.S. Treasury took steps to curb "inversion" deals that allow companies to escape high U.S. taxes by reincorporating abroad.

Though speculation is rife of a new Pfizer bid, AstraZeneca's chief executive is not holed up with advisers in London or New York. Instead, he has spent the last three days immersed in heart science in Barcelona.

Britain-based AstraZeneca has formed a flagship deal with Medical Research Council or MRC to hopefully help the drugmaker revive research on new drugs, Reuters reported.

AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit has partnered with Immunocore, a private British biotechnology company, to develop a cancer drug that would tap on the body's immune system, Reuters reported.

Shares in Swiss biotech company Actelion rose on Thursday after broker Citi said in a research note British pharma group AstraZeneca might be interested in buying it.

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported on Friday.

An announcement made last Thursday of a realignment in priority drug research projects prompted Citi analyst to advise shareholders of a possible interest divestment in diabetes drug joint venture between Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca announced on Tuesday that it had purchased biotech company Spirogen in a deal worth USD440 million in total.

Merck & Co. decided to cut its annual spending by USD2.5 billion and eliminate more than 10% of its global workers.

AstraZeneca has been looking at another acquisition deal even after spending almost USD1 billion in acquisitions earlier this year.

South Korea-based Celltrion Inc, said in a statement posted on its website, that the stake sale to AstraZeneca by a newspaper was inaccurate, causing the drugmaker's share to slump by 7%.

Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Novartis are among those to propose bids for Onyx Pharmaceuticals.

AstraZeneca acquired Omthera Pharmaceuticals.

Lowth, current CFO AstraZeneca, will leave this October to become the CFO and Executive Director of BG Group

Vivus investor, First Manhattan Co aimed to replace the drugmaker’s board and management and proposed Anthony Zook to be named company CEO.