The Avanti Group the equities research house based in Tokyo, providing professional trading and investment research solutions to institutional and private investors across the globe have recently drawn their investor’s attention to recent developments in the pharmaceutical industry.

New York based Pfizer Inc is expected to formally announce its intentions to hold takeover talks with the British drug maker AstraZeneca as early as this week according to sources close to both parties. Any takeover move by Pfizer for AstraZeneca would be one of the largest acquisitions in the pharmaceutical industry’s history, with AstraZeneca holding a market value of $86.5 billion.

If acted out, an acquisition of AstraZeneca by Pfizer would further add to a year of mergers in the pharmaceuticals industry totaling some $127 billion. With last week alone bearing witness to a hive of activity from unit sales and joint ventures involving major industry players such as Eli Lilly & Co, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.

“Since 2011 the very landscape of the pharmaceutical industry has changed almost completely and it is continuing to do so now. Pfizer never was comfortable with being rebuffed by AstraZeneca back in January and we can expect to see a much more serious offer put on the table this time for this massive company,” said Martin Blanke Equity Research Specialist at The Avanti Group.

The resultant entity of a Pfizer and AstraZeneca merger would become the world’s largest health care company by revenue, even at a time that could see the U.K based AstraZeneca lose an expected $2.5 billion in sales due to patent expiry by 2017. For Pfizer acquiring AstraZeneca would add early stage cancer treatment drugs that involve the use of the body’s own immune cells to recognize and attack cancer to its lineup following January’s agreement between AstraZeneca and Immunocore Ltd to develop new treatments involving this approach.

“The Avanti Group’s research and development department anticipate that Pfizer will have to pay a large sum figure for AstraZeneca even as the sales for that company are heading into a period of decline over the next two years as patent expiries begin to take effect, this is all part of the usual cycle for drug makers and will inevitably be offset by new treatments coming to market from the British company in cancer treatment over the coming twelve months,” concluded Martin Blanke Equity Research Specialist at The Avanti Group.

The Avanti Group is an equity research house providing research and analysis outsourcing solutions for institutional financial traders worldwide, founded in early 2003.