Bloomberg Law
Dec. 14, 2020, 8:16 AM

Astra CEO Lands Mega-Deal, Defends Vaccine in Sydney Quarantine

Suzi Ring
Suzi Ring
Bloomberg News

Pascal Soriot, the head of AstraZeneca Plc, spent around two weeks in a Sydney hotel room with guards outside the door, stuck in quarantine after entering Australia.

During that time, he helped put the finishing touches on a $39 billion acquisition, while also parrying concerns over the much-anticipated Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca developed with the University of Oxford. That two such important developments should emerge while he was in confinement shows how crucial this moment is for the drugmaker — and for Soriot’s legacy. Not even the chief executive officer of one of Britain’s most valuable companies can escape the pandemic’s grasp. But Soriot didn’t let ...

Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:

Learn About Bloomberg Law

AI-powered legal analytics, workflow tools and premium legal & business news.

Already a subscriber?

Log in to keep reading or access research tools.