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Astra AB, established in 1913 by 400 doctors and apothecaries in Södertälje, Sweden, underwent a significant transformation. In 1993, ICI, a British chemical conglomerate formed from four separate companies, divested its pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals businesses, creating Zeneca Group PLC. The final step in this evolution occurred in 1999 when Astra merged with Zeneca Group, forming AstraZeneca plc. The newly formed company headquartered in London, and in the same year, selected a new location for its US base: the "Fairfax-plus" site in North Wilmington, Delaware.

Astra AB, established in 1913 by 400 doctors and apothecaries in Södertälje, Sweden, underwent a series of transformations.  In 1993, ICI, a British chemical conglomerate formed from four British chemical companies, spun off its pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals businesses, creating Zeneca Group PLC.  Finally, in 1999, Astra and Zeneca Group merged to form AstraZeneca plc, headquartered in London.  That same year, AstraZeneca selected a new location for its US headquarters, the "Fairfax-plus" site in North Wilmington, Delaware.

In February 2007, AstraZeneca acquired Arrow Therapeutics, a company specializing in the discovery and development of antiviral therapies, for $150 million. The company's pipeline and "patent cliff" sparked much speculation in April 2007, leading to collaborations and acquisitions aimed at bolstering its research efforts. Shortly after, AstraZeneca acquired MedImmune, a U.S. company, for approximately $15.2 billion, gaining access to flu vaccines and an antiviral treatment for infants. Subsequently, AstraZeneca consolidated all of its biologics operations into a dedicated division called MedImmune.

In 2010, AstraZeneca acquired Novexel Corp, an antibiotics discovery company established in 2004 as a spin-off from Sanofi-Aventis' anti-infectives division. Through this acquisition, AstraZeneca gained the experimental antibiotic NXL-104 (CEF104) (CAZ-AVI).

In March 2013, AstraZeneca announced a major corporate restructuring. This included closing research and development activities at Alderley Park in Cheshire, Loughborough in the UK, and Lund in Sweden. The company also invested $500 million in a new research and development facility in Cambridge.  AstraZeneca consolidated its R&D operations into three locations: Cambridge, Gaithersburg, Maryland (home of MedImmune, where it focuses on biotech drugs), and Gothenburg in Sweden, where research on traditional chemical drugs would be conducted. 

The company also announced it would move its corporate headquarters from London to Cambridge in 2016 and cut 1,600 jobs, followed by an additional 2,300 job cuts three days later.  AstraZeneca declared its focus on three therapeutic areas: Respiratory Inflammation & Autoimmunity, Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease, and Oncology. In October 2013, the company acquired biotech oncology company Spirogen for approximately US$440 million.

In 2014, AstraZeneca rejected a final takeover offer from Pfizer of £55 per share, valuing the company at £69.4 billion (US$117 billion). The companies had been in talks since January 2014. Had the takeover been successful, Pfizer would have become the world's largest drug manufacturer, and the transaction would have been the largest foreign acquisition of a British company. The deal faced opposition from many in Britain, including politicians and scientists.

In July 2014, AstraZeneca acquired Almirall Sofotec, a subsidiary of Almirall, along with its lung treatment portfolio, including the COPD drug, Eklira. The US$2.1 billion deal allocated US$1.2 billion for development in the respiratory franchise, one of AstraZeneca's three target therapeutic areas.  In August 2014, the company announced a three-year collaboration with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma on diabetic nephropathy. 

In September 2014, AstraZeneca partnered with Eli Lilly to develop and commercialize its candidate BACE inhibitor – AZD3292 – for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.  The deal could bring up to US$500 million to AstraZeneca.  In November 2014, MedImmune, AstraZeneca's biologics R&D operation, acquired Definiens for over US$150 million. The company also launched a Phase I/II trial collaboration with Pharmacyclics and Janssen Biotech, investigating combination treatments. Additionally, AstraZeneca agreed to sell its lipodystrophy treatment business to Aegerion Pharmaceuticals for more than US$325 million.

In December, AstraZeneca received accelerated FDA approval for Olaparib in the treatment of women with advanced ovarian cancer who have a BRCA genetic mutation.  The drug's approval was primarily based on its ability to shrink tumors in patients for an average of 7.9 months.

In 2015, AstraZeneca engaged in a flurry of acquisitions, partnerships, and licensing agreements, demonstrating its commitment to expanding its portfolio and presence in various therapeutic areas. 

The company began the year by acquiring the US and Canadian rights to Actavis's branded respiratory drug business for $600 million.  It also partnered with Orca Pharmaceuticals to develop retinoic acid-related orphan nuclear receptor gamma inhibitors for autoimmune diseases, potentially generating up to $122.5 million for Orca.  AstraZeneca further invested $40 million in establishing a new subsidiary focused on small molecule anti-infectives, primarily researching the gyrase inhibitor, AZD0914, for gonorrhea treatment. 

In March, the company announced co-commercialization of naloxegol with Daiichi Sankyo in a deal worth up to $825 million.  April saw a series of collaborations valued at an estimated $1.8 billion, including a partnership with Celgene to develop and commercialize MEDI4736 for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, myelodysplastic syndromes, and multiple myeloma, with AstraZeneca receiving $450 million. Additionally, an agreement was reached to study a combination treatment of MEDI4736 and Innate Pharma's Phase II anti-NKG2A antibody IPH2201, potentially worth up to $1.275 billion. AstraZeneca's MedImmune arm also launched collaborative clinical trials with Juno Therapeutics to investigate combination treatments for cancer. 

June brought a partnership agreement with Eolas Therapeutics on the Eolas Orexin-1 Receptor Antagonist (EORA) program for smoking cessation and other treatments. In July, the company sold its rights to Entocort (budesonide) to Tillotts Pharma for $215 million.  Genzyme, an AstraZeneca subsidiary, acquired the rare cancer drug Caprelsa (vandetanib) from AstraZeneca for up to $300 million. 

August saw AstraZeneca acquiring global rights to develop and commercialize Heptares Therapeutics' drug candidate HTL-1071, targeting the adenosine A2A receptor, in a deal worth up to $510 million.  The company's MedImmune subsidiary acquired exclusive rights to Inovio Pharmaceuticals' INO-3112 immunotherapy, currently in Phase I/II, under an agreement that could generate more than $727.5 million for Inovio. INO-3112 targets Human papillomavirus types 16 and 18. Valeant licensed Brodalumab from AstraZeneca for up to $445 million in September. 

November saw AstraZeneca acquiring ZS Pharma for $2.7 billion. In December, the company announced its intention to acquire the respiratory portfolio of Takeda Pharmaceutical, including Alvesco and Omnaris, for $575 million.  A day later, AstraZeneca took a 55% majority stake in Acerta for $4 billion, gaining commercial rights to Acerta's irreversible oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, acalabrutinib (ACP-196), which is currently in Phase III development for B-cell blood cancers and in Phase I or II clinical trials in solid tumors.  By the end of 2015, AstraZeneca was ranked as the eighth-largest drug company in the world based on sales revenue.

In July 2017, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot stated that Brexit would not impact the company's existing commitments in the United Kingdom. However, he acknowledged that Brexit had slowed decision-making regarding new investment projects, pending the establishment of a post-Brexit regulatory framework.

By September 2017, AstraZeneca chairman Leif Johansson outlined plans to initiate the relocation of research and manufacturing operations from the United Kingdom in the event of a "hard Brexit."

In 2017, AstraZeneca was ranked as the eleventh largest pharmaceutical company globally based on sales and seventh in terms of R&D investment.

In January 2018, AstraZeneca EVP Pam Cheng announced the commencement of a duplicate quality assurance testing facility in Sweden, accompanied by new hiring efforts in the country.

In February 2018, AstraZeneca announced the spin-off of six early-stage experimental drugs into a new biotechnology company, Viela Bio, valued at US$250 million.

On December 6, 2018, AstraZeneca acquired nearly 8% of the American pharmaceutical company Moderna.

March 2019 saw AstraZeneca entering into a collaboration agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd, committing up to US$6.9 billion for the development of an experimental breast cancer treatment. AstraZeneca planned to utilize proceeds from a US$3.5 billion share issue to fund this collaboration. The deal for the drug known as trastuzumab deruxtecan led to a 16% surge in Daiichi's share price.

In September 2019, AstraZeneca announced the discontinuation of drug production at its German headquarters in Wedel, resulting in the loss of 175 jobs by the end of 2021.

In October 2019, AstraZeneca agreed to sell the global commercial rights for its acid reflux treatment drug to Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH, a German pharmaceutical company, for a potential value of up to US$276 million.

In February 2020, AstraZeneca granted Redhill Biopharma a sublicense for its global rights to the drug Movantik, excluding Europe, Canada, and Israel.  In June 2020, AstraZeneca made an initial proposal to merge with Gilead Sciences, potentially worth nearly US$240 billion. However, these plans were subsequently abandoned due to concerns about diverting resources from the company's existing pipeline and ongoing COVID-19 vaccine efforts. 

In July 2020, the company entered into a second collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo, focused on developing DS-1062, an antibody drug conjugate. This deal could potentially generate up to US$6 billion for Daiichi. In September 2020, AstraZeneca acquired Dogma Therapeutics' preclinical oral PCSK9 inhibitor program.

On December 27, 2020, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot declared that they had "figured out the winning formula" with their two-dose system for Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine.  The United Kingdom approved the emergency use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on December 30, 2020. 

In July 2021, AstraZeneca acquired Alexion Pharmaceuticals.  In October 2021, through Alexion, the company acquired Caelum Biosciences and its monoclonal treatment (CAEL-101) for light chain (AL) amyloidosis for up to $500 million. 

In July 2022, the company announced the acquisition of TeneoTwo for up to $1.3 billion, strengthening its blood cancer drug offerings. In October 2022, it was announced that AstraZeneca would acquire LogicBio Therapeutics, a clinical-stage genomic medicine company.  In November 2022, AstraZeneca acquired Neogene Therapeutics, an Amsterdam-based clinical-stage biotechnology company.

In January 2023, AstraZeneca announced the acquisition of CinCor Pharma for $1.8 billion. 

November 2023 saw the launch of Evinova, AstraZeneca's new global health tech business. Evinova aims to provide comprehensive services to CROs and pharmaceutical companies, assisting them in the design, execution, and monitoring of clinical trials. 

December 2023 brought two significant acquisitions: AstraZeneca acquired Icosavax, a developer of an RSV vaccine, for $1.1 billion.  Later that month, the company agreed to acquire Gracell Biotechnologies, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical developer focused on cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, in a deal valued at up to $1.2 billion.  Both acquisitions were finalized in February 2024. 

In March 2024, AstraZeneca made two additional acquisitions: Amolyt Pharma for $1.05 billion in cash and Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc for $2 billion in cash. 

A significant development in July 2024 saw the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) block the National Health Service (NHS) from providing Enhertu, a groundbreaking treatment for advanced HER2-low breast cancer. This decision stemmed from AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo's refusal to offer a lower price for the drug.  NICE's rejection, the first of a breast cancer treatment in six years, underscored the financial challenges associated with funding complex medicines. Enhertu's high cost, £117,857 per treatment course, further complicated the situation.  Despite approval by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, NICE's non-recommendation meant that the drug would only be accessible privately or through separate funding in Scotland.  Clinical trials had demonstrated Enhertu's ability to extend patients' lives by five months compared to chemotherapy, yet a price agreement between NICE and the companies could not be reached.

This timeline outlines AstraZeneca's significant mergers and acquisitions, tracing its evolution from its founding to the present day:

Founding & Predecessors:

• Astra AB: Founded in 1913.
• Tika: Acquired in 1939.

Formation of AstraZeneca:

• Zeneca: Spun off from Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1993.
• AstraZeneca: Formed through the merger of Astra AB and Zeneca in 1999.

Key Acquisitions:

• Salick Health Care: Acquired in 1996.
• Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha: Acquired in 1997 (US fungicide operations).
• Aptein Inc: Acquired in 1998.
• KuDOS Pharmaceuticals: Acquired in 2005.
• Cambridge Antibody Technology: Acquired in 2006.
• MedImmune: Acquired in 2007.
• Arrow Therapeutics: Acquired in 2007.
• Novexel Corp: Acquired in 2010.
• Guangdong BeiKang Pharmaceutical Company: Acquired in 2011.
• Enobia Pharma Corp: Acquired in 2011.
• Ardea Biosciences: Acquired in 2012.
• Amylin Pharmaceuticals: Acquired jointly with Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2012.
• Spirogen: Acquired in 2013.
• Pearl Therapeutics: Acquired in 2013.
• Omthera Pharmaceuticals: Acquired in 2013.
• ZS Pharma: Acquired in 2015.
• Synageva BioPharma: Acquired in 2015.
• Definiens: Acquired in 2014.
• Wilson Therapeutics: Acquired in 2018.
• Syntimmune: Acquired in 2018.
• Achillion Pharmaceuticals: Acquired in 2019.
• Portola Pharmaceuticals: Acquired in 2020.
• Alexion Pharmaceuticals: Acquired in 2021.
• Caelum Biosciences: Acquired in 2021.
• TeneoTwo: Acquired in 2022.
• LogicBio Therapeutics: Acquired in 2022.
• Neogene Therapeutics: Acquired in 2022.
• CinCor Pharma: Acquired in 2023.
• Icosavax: Acquired in 2024.
• Gracell Biotechnologies: Acquired in 2024.
• Amolyt Pharma: Acquired in 2024.
• Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc: Acquired in 2024.

Note: Proliferon Inc (acquired in 2000) was restructured into Alexion Antibody Technologies Inc.

AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacture, and sale of treatments for various medical conditions. Their areas of focus include oncology, cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, infections, neuroscience, respiratory ailments, and inflammation. The company's headquarters are located in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with major research and development (R&D) centers in Cambridge (UK), Gaithersburg (Maryland, US), Gothenburg (Sweden), and Warsaw (Poland).

In 2015, AstraZeneca's drug tremelimumab received orphan drug designation in the United States for the treatment of mesothelioma. However, a clinical trial conducted in 2016 failed to meet its primary endpoint for treating mesothelioma, leading to the discontinuation of the drug's development for this indication.

As of 2008, David Brennan served as the company's chief executive officer (CEO) and received a compensation package of US$1,574,144. Brennan announced his retirement in 2012, and Pascal Soriot was appointed as his successor. In the same year, Leif Johansson took over as non-executive chairman, succeeding Louis Schweitzer. 

AstraZeneca's board of directors comprises non-executive members, including Philip Broadley, Euan Ashley, Michel Demaré, Deborah DiSanzo, Diana Layfield, Sheri McCoy, Tony Mok, Nazneen Rahman, Andreas Rummelt, and Marcus Wallenberg.

In terms of lobbying activities, AstraZeneca is a member of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, an advocacy group that promotes medical research and lobbies on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry.