The controversial takeover of AstraZeneca by US drugs group Pfizer is to be investigated by MPs, who are being urged to take evidence from their chiefs amid fears the £63bn transaction could threaten the future health of the UK's science base.

The inquiry comes as the AstraZeneca board faced fresh pressure from Pfizer boss Ian Read who told Wall Street that its proposal was a "compelling offer" that offered shareholders in the British company the chance to "trade up" and own a piece of a bigger company with better prospects.

Andrew Miller, the Labour MP who chairs the science and technology select committee, said he had decided to launch an investigation after senior industry figures had contacted him over the long weekend to express their concerns about the deal and confirmed he would be calling expert witnesses from both companies to give evidence at next week's hearing.

"Very serious players in the sector have privately expressed their serious concerns to me about this proposition," he said. "The bean-counters are debating the commercial value of this business but we are interested in the science base and the R&D [research and development] undertaken in the UK."

On Friday, AstraZeneca rejected a £50-a-share offer that included £15.98 in cash, which was slightly higher than Pfizer's opening gambit. Read told analysts he was disappointed with the response, and that the board was "considering all options on how we progress these discussions".

Amid speculation that Pifzer – best known for its drug Viagra – could go hostile to win control, Read said: "We … believe it is in the best interests of both companies and AstraZeneca and Pfizer shareholders that we pursue a friendly negotiated transaction that can be recommended by both our boards."

There are also concerns that Pfizer's main motivation is to use the deal to move its tax domicile to the UK, where the corporation tax rate is falling to 20% in 2015 compared with a US rate of up to 40%. Read told analysts the deal was an opportunity to "get our tax rate down".

The takeover, which would be the biggest ever by a foreign company, has sparked a furious debate with politicians, stakeholders and captains of industry increasingly divided on its merits. Adrian Bailey, chairman of the business select committee, last week called for an investigation, fearing the tie-up "could threaten the UK's strategic interests".

Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary, wrote to Miller on Monday to urge him to call Read and AstraZeneca's boss, Pascal Soriot, to give evidence at the 14 May hearing.

Read was in London for two days last week in a charm offensive designed to get AstraZeneca shareholders and UK government ministers on side. "AstraZeneca is one of the UK's most significant investors in R&D and a major contributor to our science base," said Umunna. "There is a strong national economic interest in this issue."

Sir Richard Sykes, chairman of the Royal Institution and former chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, waded into the row on Monday, writing in the Financial Times that the ownership of AstraZeneca was "irrelevant". "In essence it does not matter where a global company's headquarters are," he wrote. "What is really important is that Britain encourages these companies to do their drug discovery and development work here."

Other figures in science and business, such as John LaMattina, Pfizer's former president of global R&D, and the former science minister Lord Sainsbury, have been more circumspect about the potential impact on the UK's science base with growing calls for a tougher public interest test ahead of takeovers of important businesses.

Pfizer has until 26 May under UK takeover rules to persuade AstraZeneca to enter talks or, if it fails, to make a hostile bid or walk away.

AstraZeneca, the country's second-biggest pharmaceutical company after GlaxoSmithKline, employs 6,700 people in the UK. Three years ago, Pfizer closed its world-renowned research laboratory in Sandwich, Kent, triggering more than 1,500 job losses. Read promised prime minister David Cameron last week "significant undertakings on research, jobs and investment", and said "key scientific leadership" would continue to be based in the UK, but Miller said its actions in Kent had "created a confidence gap to say the least" in the science community.

Analysts say Pfizer wants to get its hands on AstraZeneca's healthy pipeline of new drugs as it loses revenue from its older products. Read has been praised for his cost-cutting prowess but that can only go so far when sales are falling. First quarter sales, published on Monday, were down 9% at $11.4bn (£6.8bn) as blockbusters such as Lipitor, the cholesterol drug, and Viagra face competition from cheaper generic alternatives.