Flush with cash from Covid vaccines, Pfizer spends €5.3bn on sickle cell drug firm
Pfizer plant at Ringaskiddy in Cork: The US drugs giant employs around 4,000 people between its sites at Ringaskiddy, Dublin, and Kildare.
Pfizer is boosting its pipeline with a $5.4bn (€5.3bn) deal for sickle cell disease drugmaker Global Blood Therapeutics, the latest in a series of acquisitions to combat a potential slowdown in Covid-19 products demand as cases fall.
Pfizer has enjoyed an unprecedented rise in sales since the global rollout of its Covid-19 vaccine, developed with Germany's BioNTech. Vaccine sales have, however, started to slow since last year, and BioNTech shares fell sharply in Monday trade when its latest earnings fell short of expectations.
Pfizer is also one of the largest of the US pharma giants in Ireland, employing around 4,000 people between its sites at Ringaskiddy in Cork, Dublin, and Kildare.
But flush with cash from sales of its Covid-19 vaccines, Pfizer has been on the lookout for acquisitions that could bring in billions in annual sales by the end of the decade.
In May, Pfizer shelled out $11.6bn for migraine drug maker Biohaven Pharmaceutical and recently also completed a $6.7bn deal to buy Arena Pharmaceuticals. With the acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics, Pfizer will boost its rare disease treatment business with Oxbryta.
Oxbryta was first approved in 2019 to treat sickle cell disease among patients aged 12 years or older, and last December, for younger patients.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people in the US alone. The oral drug brought $55.2m in sales for the company in the first quarter of 2022.
US analysts have wanted Pfizer to continue to bring in new acquisitions to improve the outlook for earnings beyond the end of the decade when key assets start to lose their patent protection, said Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen. She said analysts also wanted the company to diversify its sales beyond Covid drugs.
Meanwhile, shares in BioNTech in Frankfurt trade fell as lagging Covid-19 vaccine orders held sales and profit short of analysts’ expectations.
Revenue in the second quarter dropped by about 40%, BioNTech said, with earnings per share of €6.45 below analysts' expectations. BioNTech and its partner Pfizer are counting on an Omicron-adapted vaccine to reinvigorate sales for the rest of the year.
The first doses of a shot tailored for both the original coronavirus and the fast-spreading BA.4/5 variant should be ready in October, in time for autumn booster campaigns, BioNTech said. The companies will begin a clinical trial this month and manufacturing has already started.
BioNTech still expects to hit a target of €13bn to €17bn in vaccine revenues this year, with demand increasing in the fourth quarter once the new shot is available. Rival Moderna has said it will start delivering boosters in September.
BioNTech booked a €247m write-off in the quarter related to unused production slots and materials and expired vaccines. Sales fell to €3.2bn.
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