AstraZeneca is considering spinning off part of its research division to venture capital investors.

The Anglo-Swedish drugs group indicated yesterday it was exploring a number of options for its gastrointestinal (GI) drug research unit, based near Gothenberg, Sweden.

The comments came after reports in the Swedish press that AstraZeneca was discussing spinning off up to five individual research projects with venture capital firms, as well as other drugs companies, in a sale that could be worth more than SKr1 billion (£79 million).

As an alternative to a straight sale, AstraZeneca might consider hiving off its GI research unit into a separate company that might then obtain venture-capital backing before a stock market flotation.

AstraZeneca declined to comment directly on the Swedish newspaper report, describing it as “speculation”. However, a spokeswoman for the company in London said: “We continually look to ways to maximise the value of our R&D assets for patients and shareholders and explore a range of options on an ongoing basis.”

The possibility of a spin-off of some of AstraZeneca’s research businesses to risk capital investors would represent a bold new development for the pharmaceutical sector. The drugs industry has been shunned by venture capital and private equity firms, who are wary of the high risks, costs and long time frames associated with drug development.

Nevertheless, with the traditional, vertically integrated “Big Pharma” business model under pressure from patent expiries and from manufacturers of generic drugs, there have been signs of a shift in attitudes.

Last year, Jon Symonds, AstraZeneca’s chief financial officer, left to join Goldman Sachs, the American investment bank. At the time, he said that part of his role would be to find a greater role for private equity investors in the pharmaceutical industry. “If you look at the amount of money in private equity and the amount of money in pharmaceuticals, it is clear that at some point they are going to come together,” Mr Symonds told The Times.

Among the big drug companies, AstraZeneca has been among the most ambitious in terms of its willingness to diverge from a vertically integrated model and to experiment with new strategies.

Last year, it emerged that the group was planning to outsource much of its drug manufacturing operation in an effort to reduce its costs, simplify the business and focus its attentions increasingly on marketing and drug development.

The research projects are based at AstraZeneca’s facilities at Molndal, near Gothenberg, where it employs 2,000 researchers. Of these, about 500 researchers work on stomach and intestine-related disorders.

AstraZeneca, whose top-selling drug is Nexium, the stomach acid treatment, said in 2006 that it was discontinuing its research into gastrointestinal diseases.

Sales of Nexium totalled $5.2 billion (£2.7 billion) last year, making it the world’s second-biggest prescription medicine, behind Pfizer’s Lipitor.

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