Pfizer has sought to dispel fears that its proposed £63bn takeover of AstraZeneca would lead to big cuts in British drug research, a day after Britain's second-largest drugmaker touted its 10-year growth strategy as an independent company. The news came as the Anglo-Swedish company's fourth-largest shareholder came out in support of the board's rejection of the approach. Sweden's Investor AB, which owns 4.1% of AstraZeneca, said it was "backing the board" of the company – the biggest investor so far to publicly back the drugmaker's battle to stay independent. An infographic (pdf) published by Pfizer hailed the benefits of a tie-up, with 82 products in the pipeline, and carried a quote from the former GlaxoSmithKline boss Sir Richard Sykes. "Pfizer are serious and they've got a lot of money to spend. They'll need first-class people doing first-class research," it said.