AstraZeneca to Pay Up to $1.1 Billion for Vaccine Developer (1)

AstraZeneca Plc agreed to buy Icosavax Inc. for as much as $1.1 billion to gain a developer of innovative vaccines for respiratory viruses.

Astra offered $15 in cash for each of Icosavax’s outstanding shares, a 43% premium to the latest close, it said in a statement Tuesday. The deal also includes a contingent value right of as much as $5 per share if experimental products reach certain regulatory and sales milestones.

The pandemic spurred the UK drugmaker to move into vaccines. The takeover would give Astra an experimental product for a common illness that it’s worked on for years and ...