2015年经济学人 美国药企辉瑞有意收购英国阿斯利康

Pfizer and AstraZeneca

A matter of trust

British politicians are understating their nation's appeal to drugs firms

IAN READ, the chief executive of Pfizer, an American-based drugs giant, says his company wants to go where it is welcome.

Odd, then, that Pfizer persists in trying to make Britain its second home.

Its attempt to acquire AstraZeneca, Britain's second-largest pharmaceuticals¹ firm,

and establish a tax residence in the country is running into fire from many directions.

A few weeks ago Mr Read impressed David Cameron, the prime minister,

with promises to keep jobs and production in Britain if a deal went through.

But MPs who quizzed him on May 13th and 14th criticised these assurances as vague and insufficient².

Pressed for more details, Mr Read said he could not supply them, as he had not yet seen AstraZeneca's books.

He conceded that “there will be some jobs cut somewhere”, though he could not yet say where they would be.

MPs see worrying parallels with Pfizer's past acquisitions.

After it bought Wyeth, an American drugmaker,

in 2009 the new company's research and development budget was slashed³ from about 11 billion to 7 billion a year.

If Pfizer and AstraZeneca were to merge⁴, the combined R&D budget would be about 12 billion.

Mr Read promises to place at least 20% of the new company's R&D staff in Britain.

Even so, this could mean fewer jobs: he did not specify⁵ the total research workforce⁶.

As The Economist⁷ went to press the firm was expected to raise and formalise its bid for AstraZeneca, currently at 63 billion.

The government expects a sweeter offer, too.

Mr Read's promises are just a “starting point” for negotiations⁸, says Vince Cable,

the business secretary, who wants more binding⁹ commitments.

Others insist they should last longer than five years, as currently stipulated¹⁰: drug development often takes decades.

Mr Cameron now says he too is unsatisfied. He and Ed Miliband, the Labour Party leader, are competing to sound tougher on Pfizer.

Yet British politicians are understating the lure¹¹ of their own country to drugs firms.

R&D tax credits and a new “patent box”, which taxes profits from inventions registered in Britain at just 10%, are powerful draws,

as are Britain's best universities. Indeed, even as politicians worry about losing jobs to America, lawmakers in America fear the opposite.

The governors of Delaware and Maryland, where AstraZeneca operates, are seeking assurances from Pfizer similar to those given to Mr Cameron. Mr Read has so far demurred¹².

A further reason for optimism is that AstraZeneca has already done much of the dirty work that might be expected of Pfizer should a deal be done.

Over the last seven years the firm has cut 5,100 jobs in Britain and closed a research lab in Cheshire.

Last year, due largely to lost revenue from an expiring patent, it did not pay British corporation tax.

Most of its workforce and drug development are abroad: see article

AstraZeneca's boss, Pascal Soriot, has so far rebuffed Pfizer.

He has tried to convince investors¹³ and British politicians that,

after years of lagging behind competitors, AstraZeneca is now better off on its own.

He touts¹⁴ a pipeline¹⁵ of potentially lucrative¹⁶ cancer drugs and warns darkly that a merger¹⁷ would lead to delays and perhaps deaths.

British lawmakers seem inclined to protect their “crown jewel”, as one MP put it.

But they will find it hard to stop a deal. The final decision will rest with the company's shareholders¹⁸,

many of whom are eager to see Pfizer's next offer.

1 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

3 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

5 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

6 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

10 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

11 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

12 demurred   

v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• At first she demurred, but then finally agreed. 她开始表示反对，但最终还是同意了。
• They demurred at working on Sundays. 他们反对星期日工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

14 touts   

n.招徕( tout的名词复数 )；（音乐会、体育比赛等的）卖高价票的人；侦查者；探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• Many vouchers are returned for cash, allowing touts and middle men to make a healthy margin. 许多月饼券都被兑换成现金，这让券贩子和中间商赚取了不蜚的利润。 来自互联网
• Spotting prey, the customary crowd of hustlers and touts swarmed around, jostling for my business. 照例有大群的拉客黄牛在寻觅猎物，他们争相过来抢我的生意。 来自互联网

15 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

16 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

17 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

18 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任