Pfizer in advanced talks to buy Global Blood Therapeutics for US$5b: sources

PFIZER is in advanced talks to buy drugmaker Global Blood Therapeutics for about US$5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Pfizer is aiming to seal a deal in the coming days, but other suitors are still in the mix, the report said.

Shares of Global Blood, which makes a blood disorder drug called Oxbryta, soared 44 per cent in afternoon trade to a 2-year high. The company had a market capitalisation of US$3.12 billion, as of Thursday’s closing price.

Pfizer declined to comment on the report, while a Global Blood spokesperson said it does not “comment on market rumours or speculation”.

New York-based Pfizer, flush with cash from its Covid-19 vaccine, is on the lookout for acquisitions that could bring in billions in annual sales by the end of the decade.

Its US$11.6 billion deal for migraine drug maker Biohaven Pharmaceutical in May was the latest in a string of acquisitions including Trillium Therapeutics and Arena Pharmaceuticals over recent years.

Global Blood’s Oxbryta was approved in the United States for the treatment of sickle cell disease among patients 12 years and older in 2019. In December, the oral drug received approval for the treatment of the condition in younger patients as well.

Sales of the drug rose more than 50 per cent to US$194.7 million in 2021.

Biotech dealmaking activity has picked up again in recent months after a bleak start to the year, when a dearth of major acquisitions and clinical-stage drug failures dampened investor sentiment and squeezed funding.

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