Pfizer has admitted defeat in its pursuit of AstraZeneca, bringing an end to a month-long takeover battle that pitted two of the world’s biggest drugmakers against each other and stirred political controversy on both sides of the Atlantic.

根据英国的收购规定，辉瑞必须在周一下午5点之前提出正式出价。在距离截止时间还有两小时的时候，辉瑞正式放弃了其价值694亿英镑的收购计划。

The US company officially abandoned its £69.4bn offer for its British rival two hours before the 5pm Monday deadline for a deal to be struck under UK takeover rules.

辉瑞董事长兼首席执行官伊恩•里德(Ian Read)表示：“我们仍认为，根据我们目前获得的信息来看，我们最终的出价颇具吸引力，而且能够体现阿斯利康的整体价值。”

Ian Read, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive, said: “We continue to believe that our final proposal was compelling and represented full value for AstraZeneca based on the information that was available to us.”

辉瑞的退出标志着这一公司在收购领域遭遇罕见失败，这家公司过去15年曾在一系列巨额收购中连连获胜。这一举动还会让英国政客和科学家长舒一口气，他们原本担心，这笔交易可能会对阿斯利康近7000名英国员工造成影响。

The withdrawal marks a rare failure for a company that has prevailed in a series of mammoth acquisitions over the past 15 years. It will also bring relief to the UK politicians and scientists who voiced fears over the deal’s potential impact on AstraZeneca’s nearly 7,000-strong UK workforce.

辉瑞这项颇具争议的收购计划如果最终成行，会将辉瑞的税收管辖地转移到英国，这是迄今为止美国跨国公司为避免其海外收入在美国被课税的最高调努力。

Pfizer’s contentious plan would have shifted its tax residence to the UK in the event of a deal – the most high-profile attempt so far by an American multinational group to shelter its offshore revenues from US taxation.

目前外界的注意力已转移辉瑞是否会重启收购：收购如果重启，要么是在6个月的冷却期结束后，或者是3个月后阿里斯康邀请其重返收购谈判桌。

Attention has already shifted to whether Pfizer might make another bid after the end of the mandatory six-month cooling-off period – or after three months if AstraZeneca invites its suitor back to the table.

里德没有明确表示可能会重新发起收购，但也未排除这种可能性。“对这笔交易的追求是在强化我们现的既定战略，”他表示，“我们将继续关注于……满足患者的需求的新治疗方案，并继续充当股东资本的负责任管家。”

Mr Read gave no clear signal that such a move was likely but did not rule it out. “The pursuit of this transaction was a potential enhancement to our existing strategy,” he said. “We will continue our focus on . . . bringing forth new treatments to meet patients’ needs and remaining responsible stewards of our shareholders’ capital.”

这笔交易的失败还将让外界对辉瑞的增长前景更为谨慎。很多分析师和投资者认为，收购阿斯利康是这家美国公司弥补其相对疲弱的新药研发渠道以及降低成本的良好方式。

Any attempt to revive the deal in future could face political risks in Washington, with some Democrats on Capitol Hill pushing for legislation to make it harder for US companies to move their tax home overseas to escape higher US rates.

未来任何重启收购的企图都可能会在美国面临政治风险，美国国会的一些民主党人正推动制定立法，以加大美国企业将税收管辖地转移到海外规避美国高税率的难度。