Pfizer gets OK for US$43 billion Seagen deal after donating cancer drug rights
PFIZER said on Tuesday (Dec 12) it has agreed to donate the rights of royalties from sales of cancer drug Bavencio to address concerns from US antitrust regulators related to its US$43-billion deal to buy Seagen.
Pfizer said it had now received all regulatory approvals to close the deal on Thursday, about 9 months after announcing the acquisition.
Pfizer added it would create a separate cancer drugs operation and split the rest of its commercial business into two divisions, one focused on the United States and the other on the rest of the world.
Chief commercial officer Angela Hwang would step down, Pfizer said, and chief business innovation officer Aamir Malik would become the commercial chief for its US unit, while Alexandre de Germay will become commercial chief for the international unit.
The drugmaker said it would donate the royalty rights for immunotherapy drug Bavencio to the American Association for Cancer Research.
Pfizer in March signed away the development and commercialisation rights related to Bavencio to its partner for the drug, Merck KGaA, while retaining rights to 15% royalty on net sales of the drug.
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Bavencio brought in sales of US$271 million for Pfizer in 2022.
The drugmaker in March agreed to buy Seagen and its targeted cancer therapies as it braces for a steep fall in Covid-related sales and generic competition for some top-selling drugs.
However, the US Federal Trade Commission sent a request for more information on the deal to the companies in July.
Washington-based Seagen is a pioneer of antibody-drug conjugates, which work like “guided missiles” designed to destroy cancer while sparing healthy cells. REUTERS
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