AstraZeneca vs Cisco: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: AstraZeneca and Cisco side by side

1. 1913AstraZeneca

   Astra AB Founded in Södertälje, Sweden

   400 doctors and apothecaries establish Astra AB to manufacture pharmaceuticals for the Swedish market, creating the foundation for what would become one of Europe's largest drug companies.

2. 1984Cisco

   Company Founded at Stanford University

   Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner incorporate Cisco Systems in December 1984, commercializing multi-protocol router technology developed to connect Stanford's campus networks.

3. 1986Cisco

   First Commercial Router Shipped

   Cisco ships its first commercial multi-protocol router, the AGS (Advanced Gateway Server), generating $1.5 million in first-year revenue as the internet begins its transition from research network to commercial infrastructure.

4. 1990Cisco

   Initial Public Offering on NASDAQ

   Cisco goes public at a valuation of approximately $224 million, raising capital that would fuel its aggressive acquisition strategy. The IPO also precipitated the departure of both founders.

5. 1993AstraZeneca

   Zeneca Group Spun Off from ICI

   Imperial Chemical Industries demerges its pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals businesses to form Zeneca Group PLC, with initial products including Zestril, Nolvadex, and Zoladex generating approximately $3.2 billion in annual sales.

6. 1995Cisco

   John Chambers Becomes CEO

   John Chambers takes over as CEO from John Morgridge, beginning a 20-year tenure that would see Cisco grow from $2 billion to over $47 billion in annual revenue through more than 180 acquisitions.

7. 1999AstraZeneca

   Astra and Zeneca Merge to Form AstraZeneca

   The all-share merger of equals completes on 6 April 1999, creating AstraZeneca PLC.

8. 2000AstraZeneca

   Nexium Launch Replaces Prilosec

   AstraZeneca launches Nexium (esomeprazole), the single-isomer successor to Losec/Prilosec, in Europe in 2000 and in the United States in 2001 after FDA approval on 20 February 2001.

9. 2000Cisco

   Briefly Becomes World's Most Valuable Company

   Cisco's market capitalization exceeds $500 billion in March 2000, briefly surpassing Microsoft and GE as the world's most valuable company before the dot-com crash erased over $400 billion in shareholder value.

10. 2003Cisco

    Acquisition of Linksys

    Cisco acquires consumer networking company Linksys for $500 million, marking its entry into the home networking market and establishing a consumer brand that would later be divested to Belkin in 2013.

11. 2006AstraZeneca

    Acquisition of Cambridge Antibody Technology

    AstraZeneca agrees in May 2006 to buy Cambridge Antibody Technology for 1,320 pence a share, valuing the UK biotech at 702 million pounds or about $1.32 billion.

12. 2007AstraZeneca

    Acquisition of MedImmune for $15.6 Billion

    AstraZeneca acquires MedImmune for $15.6 billion, entering the biologics market and gaining the Synagis respiratory syncytial virus franchise and antibody technology platforms. The Gaithersburg facility becomes one of three global R&D centres.

13. 2012AstraZeneca

    Pascal Soriot Appointed CEO

    Pascal Soriot joins AstraZeneca as Chief Executive Officer on October 1, 2012, with a base salary of $1.4 million and a mandate to reverse declining revenue and R&D productivity through science-led investment.

14. 2012Cisco

    Meraki Acquisition Launches Cloud-Managed Networking

    Cisco acquires cloud-managed networking startup Meraki for $1.2 billion, gaining the platform that would become central to its small-and-medium business strategy and its broader shift toward subscription-based management.

15. 2014AstraZeneca

    Pfizer Hostile Takeover Rejected

    AstraZeneca's board rejects a $117 billion hostile takeover offer from Pfizer, with Soriot arguing that the undervaluation would destroy long-term shareholder value and pipeline potential.

16. 2014AstraZeneca

    Acquisition of Almirall Respiratory Portfolio

    AstraZeneca acquires the respiratory portfolio of Spanish pharmaceutical company Almirall for approximately $2.1 billion, strengthening the company's position in COPD and asthma with products including Eklira and pipeline candidates that become Breztri.

17. 2015AstraZeneca

    Tagrisso Approved for EGFR-Mutated Lung Cancer

    The FDA approves Tagrisso (osimertinib) in November 2015 for metastatic EGFR T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer, the first product from Soriot's reinvestment strategy to reach market.

18. 2015Cisco

    Chuck Robbins Appointed CEO

    Chuck Robbins succeeds John Chambers as CEO, inheriting a mandate to transform Cisco from a hardware company into a software-and-subscription platform business capable of competing in the cloud era.

19. 2017AstraZeneca

    Imfinzi Approved Based on PACIFIC Trial

    The FDA approves Imfinzi (durvalumab) for unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer after chemoradiation, based on PACIFIC trial data showing survival benefits.

20. 2017Cisco

    AppDynamics Acquisition for $3.7 Billion

    Cisco acquires application performance monitoring company AppDynamics for $3.7 billion just days before its planned IPO, signaling Cisco's strategic commitment to the observability and application intelligence market.

21. 2020AstraZeneca

    COVID-19 Vaccine Development with Oxford University

    AstraZeneca partners with the University of Oxford to develop and manufacture the Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine, distributing billions of doses globally at nonprofit pricing during the pandemic peak.

22. 2020Cisco

    Webex Usage Surges During COVID-19 Pandemic

    Webex usage explodes to over 600 million meeting participants per month during the pandemic, temporarily positioning Cisco's collaboration platform as a critical piece of global remote work infrastructure.

23. 2021AstraZeneca

    Acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39 Billion

    AstraZeneca completes the $39 billion acquisition of Alexion on July 21, 2021, entering the rare disease market with Soliris and Ultomiris and creating a dedicated rare disease unit headquartered in Boston.

24. 2023AstraZeneca

    CinCor Pharma Acquired for up to $1.8 Billion

    AstraZeneca agrees on 9 January 2023 to acquire CinCor Pharma for up to $1.8 billion, $26 per share in cash plus a $10 per share contingent value right, to gain baxdrostat, an aldosterone synthase inhibitor for resistant hypertension.

25. 2024AstraZeneca

    Total Revenue Reaches $54.073 Billion

    AstraZeneca reports Total Revenue of $54.073 billion for fiscal year 2024, an 18% increase at actual rates and 21% at constant exchange rates, with 16 blockbuster medicines, 74 regulatory events, and 24 pipeline progression events.

26. 2024AstraZeneca

    Fusion Pharmaceuticals and Gracell Acquisitions

    AstraZeneca acquires Fusion Pharmaceuticals for $2 billion to access radiopharmaceutical technology and Gracell Biotechnologies for $1.2 billion for cell therapy manufacturing, expanding modality diversity into radiopharmaceuticals and CAR-T.

27. 2024Cisco

    $28 Billion Splunk Acquisition Completed

    Cisco completes its largest-ever acquisition, purchasing cybersecurity and observability company Splunk for $28 billion in cash, pushing subscription revenue past 51% of total sales and establishing Cisco as a major force in security operations.

28. 2025AstraZeneca

    Total Revenue Reaches $58.739 Billion

    AstraZeneca reports Total Revenue of $58.739 billion for fiscal year 2025, an 8% increase at constant exchange rates, with 16 positive Phase III readouts, 43 major market approvals, and a commitment to invest $50 billion in U.S. manufacturing by 2030.

29. 2025AstraZeneca

    EsoBiotec Acquired for Up to $1 Billion

    AstraZeneca acquires Belgian biotech EsoBiotec for up to $1 billion to access in vivo cell therapy technology, eliminating the need for ex vivo manufacturing in CAR-T therapies.

30. 2025AstraZeneca

    $50 Billion US Manufacturing and R&D Commitment

    AstraZeneca announces on 21 July 2025 that it will invest $50 billion in United States manufacturing and research by 2030, including a new Virginia facility later raised to $4.5 billion.

31. 2025Cisco

    AI Infrastructure Orders Exceed $2 Billion

    Cisco's AI infrastructure orders from hyperscale customers surpass $2 billion in FY2025, more than doubling management's original target and validating the company's investment in Silicon One-based networking platforms for GPU cluster interconnection.

32. 2026AstraZeneca

    Ordinary Shares Begin Trading on the NYSE

    AstraZeneca ordinary shares start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 2 February 2026 under the ticker AZN, after the American Depositary Share programme and certain debt securities stopped trading on Nasdaq on 30 January 2026.

33. 2026AstraZeneca

    Baxfendy Approved in the US for Hypertension

    The FDA approves Baxfendy (baxdrostat) in May 2026 as the first aldosterone synthase inhibitor for hypertension, used in combination with other antihypertensives in adults who are not adequately controlled.

34. 2026AstraZeneca

    $15 Billion China Investment Through 2030

    AstraZeneca announces on 29 January 2026 that it will invest $15 billion in China through 2030 to expand manufacturing and research, in a market that is its second largest and about 12% of revenue.

Acquisitions

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