Neil Woodford says belief in independent AstraZeneca 'even stronger'

LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca shareholder Neil Woodford said on Tuesday his belief in the drugmaker's independent prospects were now "even stronger" as a result of the firm's strong pipeline of new products.

That attractive future could well underpin a fresh bid approach from U.S. peer Pfizer, although 'star' manager Woodford, who left Invesco earlier this year to set up Woodford Investment Management, put the chances of a new bid at 50/50.

"At the time of the initial approach from Pfizer, we strongly believed that an independent AstraZeneca would achieve far better returns for its shareholders than the offer from Pfizer could have delivered," he said in a statement.

"That remains the case, although six months on, our confidence in this belief is even stronger and the progress being made by the company is tangible," he said, referring to "rapid progress" under the stewardship of Pascal Soriot.

Woodford said AstraZeneca's target to increase revenues by three quarters over the next decade was tough, but he believed it could be reached, even if some were less sure.

"The market clearly remains sceptical about the company's ability to deliver on this target, albeit arguably less so than six months ago. Nevertheless, this does provide Pfizer with an opportunity to exploit in the near term," he said.

(Editing by David Clarke)