As per reports, Omthera Pharmaceuticals will be acquired by AstraZeneca for $443 million. The merged company will establish itself in the field of cardiovascular drugs. The move is a second purchase in the cardiovascular field by AstraZeneca.

Last month, with the acquisition of AlphaCore Pharma the company improved its position in the market. It emerged that the older medicines had lost the patent and the firm is now badly in need of new products in order to replace the older ones like the antipsychotic Seroquel.

The agreement to buy Omthera for $12.70 per share was undertaken by AstraZeneca on Tuesday. This amounts to the total sum of $323 million. The money is 88% of the Omthera's closing price on Friday. It emerged that the Omthera shareholders will get the contingent value rights (CVRs) of up to $4.70 per share.

This will all depend on the success of the dug Epanova, which is produced by Omthera to treat the patients with very high triglycerides, a type of blood fat. It is a mixture of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and is derived from fish oil.

The drug has passes the Phase III clinical trials and is awaiting approval from the U. S. regulatory. The new drug will compete with the similar fish oil-based medicines including GlaxoSmithKline's Lovaza and Amarin's Vascepa.