Pfizer move on Astra threatens UK science, lawmakers say

By William James LONDON (Reuters) – Pfizer's potential takeover of AstraZeneca poses a threat to British science unless the U.S. drugmaker can give more concrete, enforceable guarantees on jobs and investment, politicians scrutinizing the deal said on Thursday. London-based AstraZeneca has rejected a $106 billion offer from Pfizer and expressed concern that Pfizer would shut down important research to save costs should the two merge. But it has also said it would have to consider an offer if the price was right, and Pfizer has said it could up its offer. Over two days of parliamentary questioning, Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read defended his five-year commitment to complete AstraZeneca's research center in Cambridge, retain a factory in the northwestern English town of Macclesfield and put a fifth of its research staff in Britain if the deal goes ahead.