AstraZeneca has announced that it is set to acquire Amolyt Pharma for a cash consideration of £820m.

The deal includes £625m by the Anglo-Swedish pharma firm as an upfront payment upon deal closing, with the additional £195m contingent payment upon achievement of a specified regulatory milestone.

The acquisition of the clinical-stage biotechnology company, which focuses on developing novel treatments for rare endocrine diseases, is set to bolster the Alexion, AstraZeneca rare disease late-stage pipeline and expand on its bone metabolism franchise.

The addition of Amolyt follows on from a number of acquisitions by AstraZeneca in the past few months, which include Gracell Biotechnologies and Icosavax.

Chief executive officer at Amolyt Pharma, Thierry Abribat, said: Thierry Abribat, Chief Executive Officer, Amolyt Pharma, said: "We enthusiastically welcome the proposed acquisition of Amolyt by AstraZeneca, an organisation that shares our dedication to delivering life-changing treatments to people living with rare diseases.

"This agreement offers the opportunity to meaningfully advance our pipeline therapies. Strong Phase II data suggest eneboparatide has the potential to improve outcomes for patients and to shift the treatment paradigm for hypoparathyroidism, and we look forward to seeing the continued advancement of the Phase III trial."

Lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Sophie Lund-Yates, added: "The deal adds weight behind Astra’s rare disease division, and includes a hypoparathyroidism treatment currently in Phase III trials. This addition to the pipeline looks to be potentially lucrative."

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