AstraZeneca CEO sees no extra buying from crisis

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L), the UK's second biggest drugmaker, does not believe the financial crisis offers extra buying opportunities, its chief executive said at a conference on Monday.

"The rising tide and the falling tide lift the boats and drop the boats in the same way," Chief Executive David Brennan told Reuters on the sidelines of the BioPartnering Europe conference in London.

Earlier this month, the head of healthcare at Germany's Bayer AG BAYG.DE told Reuters that he saw the current credit crisis as an opportunity to buy assets at favourable prices.

The fall in world stock markets has seen shares in small biotech companies nose-dive. Their traditional routes of raising money -- IPOs or through venture capitalists -- have become increasingly difficult, meaning partnerships with big pharmaceutical companies are now one of the only ways to progress their drug candidates. (Reporting by Ben Deighton, writing by Victoria Bryan ; Editing by Paul Bolding)