AstraZeneca PLC on Monday said it has acquired CinCor Pharma Inc for an upfront cash consideration of around $1.3 billion, though the fee could rise to $1.8 billion.

AstraZeneca is a Cambridge, UK-based science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of prescription medicines in oncology, rare diseases, and biopharmaceuticals.

The company said it will initiate a tender offer for all of CinCor’s outstanding shares, paying $26 each, as well as a non-tradeable contingent value right of $10 per share.

AstraZeneca said the cost of the acquisition of CinCor - a Waltham, US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company - will come to a maximum of $1.8 billion.

CinCor shares closed 0.4% higher at $11.78 each in New York on Friday, giving it a $515.5 million market capitalisation.

As part of the transaction, AstraZeneca will acquire CinCor’s cash and marketable securities, which totalled $522 million as of September 30.

Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca said: ‘Acquiring CinCor supports our commitment to cardiorenal disease and further strengthens our pipeline with baxdrostat.’

The company said baxdrostat, a CinCor candidate drug, ‘represents a potentially leading next-generation [aldosterone synthase inhibitor] as it is highly selective for aldosterone synthase and spares the cortisol pathway in humans’.

AstraZeneca said the acquisition brings the potential for the combination of baxdrostat with its Farxiga drug, and complements its ‘strategy to provide added benefit across cardiorenal diseases, where there is a high unmet medical need.’

AstraZeneca shares were trading 0.9% lower at 11,672.00 pence per share on Monday morning in London.

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