AstraZeneca says no negotiation with suitor Pfizer allowed under UK rules

British drugmaker AstraZeneca said that there could be no further negotiation with U.S. suitor Pfizer on the value of a takeover proposal, in a statement which it said it issued to clarify the situation under UK takeover rules.

"This restriction that prevents further negotiation on value is a consequence of Pfizer's actions," AstraZeneca's chairman Leif Johansson said in the statement.

The British company added that despite it indicating the price and other bases on which it would have been prepared to recommend a Pfizer proposal, the U.S. firm went ahead and made its final proposal announcement.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by James Davey)