Paul Nurse comments on Pfizer's bid for AstraZeneca

President of the Royal Society, Sir Paul Nurse, has written to the chairs of the Commons Business Select Committee and Science Select Committee about Pfizer's bid for AstraZeneca ahead of the CEOs of both organisations appearing at evidence sessions.

Ian C. Read, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer, and Pascal Soriot, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, will appear this week in one-off evidence sessions before the Commons Science and Technology Committee and the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee.

The Science and Technology Committee will consider the potential impact on the UK science base of a merger between the two pharmaceutical companies.

The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee will hear from trade unions, Ian C. Read, Pascal Soriot and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable.

Ahead of the evidence sessions, Sir Paul Nurse has written to Adrian Bailey, Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee (PDF) and Andrew Miller, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee (PDF) to share his thoughts on this complex issue.