astrazeneca is buying alexion pharmaceuticals for $39 billion, pushing into rare diseases and immunology 45%l values alexion premium to its friday closing price, it would be the largest deal for astrazeneca since 1999. amazon's self driving startup has unveiled a fully autonomous electric vehicle. it doesn't have a steering will and can drive day and night on a single charge. spoke to the company's chief executive. >> not only do we have the capital required, the long-term vision, the ability to focus and execute, and this is about reimagining transportation, so it gives us a baseline to build from and expands on it. laura: that is your business flash. francine: coming up, we will speaking to the european commissioner for the economy. that conversation will be on brexit, the eu recovery fund, and climate change. this is bloomberg. ♪ francine: economics, finance, politics. this is "bloomberg surveillance." i'm francine lacqua, here in london. the bloomberg first word news with laura wright. laura: allowing up to eight people together, britain has approved the vaccine by pfizer and b.i. in

as you mentioned alexion pharmaceuticals is a rare disease company.hey have a blood disease treatment that is a big portion of their revenue, about 60 percent of their revenue, so that is likely what astrazeneca is targeting. that treatment does come off patent five years. you have five years of this blockbuster drug. and it is a bit of a move into a new space for astrazeneca. astrazeneca's revenue breakdown. the bulk of their revenue is oncology, then cardiology. so rare diseases will be a new area to broaden them. as for the shares of alexion pharmaceuticals on the year, of course it has been a big year for pharmaceutical stocks, not so much for them. you see them turning in the right direction, but not as much. but today, 40 5% up on the year. pretty impressive now that we have this deal announced, this buyout. amanda: and it stands out. astrazeneca has a lot on its late. give us some context around m&a. has there been much of it? a lot on their plate in terms of the cancer drugs, but also of course the vaccine raise. as for this year -- >> as for

plus, astrazeneca lands a $39 billion megadeal to take over alexion pharmaceuticals. it's the company's biggest deal since it was founded. good morning, everyone, and welcome to "bloomberg surveillance." i'm francine lacqua in london. lisa abramowicz in new york. tom keene off, chopping a tree or something like that. is a lot to talk about. and kind of tired of brexit. i know most of the people watching are tired of brexit, but it is the final stretch, and i want to remind everyone, december 31 is not a moving deadline. they should not be able to go over. lisa: which is key. jon ferro, my colleague, is always talking about, what does the deadline mean if they keep getting pushed back? yet we are getting to a hard stop, so any progress is key at this point to prevent a hard brexit. francine: so we will look at brexit, we will talk about astrazeneca, and that little thing called stimulus in the u.s. let's get to first word news with karina mitchell. karina: hospitals in the u.s. will start getting the coronavirus vaccine today. shipments started leaving pfizer's michiga

pharmaceutical deal, astrazeneca shares are down to an eight month low after it agreed to you acquire alexion pharmaceuticalscash and stock. that would be the u.k. pharma giant's biggest deal ever. your reaction to what's going on this morning with the vaccine as well as a handful of deals. >> yeah, hey, this astrazeneca deal i think is very good for astrazeneca. it's a 45% premium they're paying and that's really not high by this industry's standards. i wouldn't be surprised, maria, to see other bids be elliy listy this agreement. rare disease drug makers is a lucrative business. you can make a lot of money from it by selling it to a small group, subset of the population. this is what a lot of big pharma companies, maria, have done to produce or boost sales growth and from what i was looking at the numbers over the weekend, maria, this is going to be a very big sales boost for astrazeneca. i think over the long term this is going to be a profitable business for them and acquisition. maria: yeah. a lexion shares up better than 30% right now. that's not the only of deal we're talking about. a major regional b

a little bit of deal news today, astrazeneca buying alexion pharmaceuticals.est deal done, $175 a share. a 40% premium over the average price in the last month alone. the move will boost astrazeneca's footprint in treating rare diseases. >>> when we come back we'll discuss hackers (harold) twelve hundred strings of lights. (betsy) quarter mile of tinsel. (harold) and real snow all the way from switzerland. (betsy) hmmhm... gonna be tough to top. well played. (vo) add some thrill to your wish list. at the season of audi sales event. get exceptional offers now. (vo) verizon 5g is here. with the coverage of 5g nationwide and the unprecedented performance of ultra wideband in more and more places where people need massive capacity and ultra-low lag. this is the 5g america's been waiting for. only from verizon. but with the covid-19 crisis, many veterans are struggling - to make ends meet or get the care they need. dav has helped ill and injured veterans for one hundred years, but today, the need is greater than ever. give to the dav covid-19 relief fund - and help

alexion to sell itself back in may. so this is a huge deal in the pharmaceutical space, a huge deal for astrazeneca.om a strategic point of view, analysts are focusing on two aspects here. one, the financial implications of this deal, and two, what this means for astrazeneca's portfolio. from a financial point of view, the bulls on astrazeneca are pointing to the fact that this will accelerate the company's cash generation profile, improve their near-term cash generation, and from a portfolio perspective, this will deepen astrazeneca's planned expansion into immunology. so they are viewing this in a positive light. from a dividend perspective, it could potentially add a sweetener with astrazeneca, saying they plan to delever very, very quickly and are considering increasing their dividend as a result. so the analyst community here in new york seems to like this deal, by and large, from an astrazeneca perspective. >> i guess from a medium-term perspective. but i'm looking very close at what the stock is doing today, down 6%. it's seen as a bit of a roller coaster ride for astrazeneca, ever since they

pharmaceutical sector. astrazeneca making that play for alexion. that is weighing on the share price.lso under pressure. banks and retail. to the upside across europe. let's get a first word news update with laura wright. laura: germany is entering a hardluck don't on wednesday. nonessential stores are closing. schoolchildren are being encouraged to remain at home. restrictions, they include a ban on gatherings over the new year, and they will last until january 10. it comes after a looser lockdown failed to halt a surge in cases. u.s. government agencies have been hit by hackers. and cyber security firm, fire through at came widely used software. the washington post is reporting that russian hackers are suspected. the u.s. curve and says it is aware of the report and taking all necessary steps. iran plans to double oil production next year after the country anticipates in loosening of sanctions under president-elect joe biden. extra exports could cause problems for opec, which is trying to keep output down. spy novelist john le carrÉ has died aged 89. he was best known for his cold w

astrazeneca buying alexion, you know yesterday eli lilly made a small transaction in the space we think this will keep up there's really no reason not to. i think all of the pharmaceutical companies and large cap basically, you know, suffer from, you know, similar consequences which is the larger they get and the larger their drugs become, the more significant the loss of exclusivity on key major branded products becomes and it's almost a circular reference in terms of their need to go out and find targets that will enable them to grow again, so m & a - i would venture to guess that 2021 is going to be very active here again. >> yeah, but bottom line, you think this -- this whole sector can do well, even if there's profit-taking in moderna and the other vaccine names because they are big components >> definitely. i mean, that's been -- that's been the sort of -- the shakeiest ground in this entire index has been the vaccine stocks and a their weightings and how to look at sort of the xbi components, you know, i respective of what's happening in the vaccine landscape, and i feel like once all these stocks rebase, moderna and novavax and come in a little bit as well as ot