Pfizer will acquire blood disorder drugmaker Global Blood Therapeutics, giving Pfizer access to GBT's sickle cell disease portfolio and pipeline with the potential for worldwide peak sales of more than $3 billion.
Under the terms of the deal, Pfizer will acquire all the outstanding shares of GBT for $68.50 per share in cash, for a total value of approximately $5.4 billion. The Board of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.
Key to the deal is San Francisco-based GBT's Oxbryta, first approved by the FDA in Nov. 2019 to treat sickle cell disease. The first-in-class medicine is also approved in the EU, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Great Britain.
Pfizer will also snatch up GBT's promising pipeline, including GBT601, an oral, once-daily, next-generation sickle hemoglobin (HbS) polymerization inhibitor in the phase 2 portion of a phase 2/3 clinical study. Also in the pipeline is inclacumab, a mAb targeting P-selectin which is being evaluated in two phase 3 trials as a potential quarterly treatment to reduce the frequency of vaso-occlusive crisis — a painful complication of sickle cell disease.
The deal is the latest in an acquisitions spending spree for Pfizer. Back in May, Pfizer paid $11.6 billion for migraine drugmaker Biohaven Pharmaceutical, following a $6.7 billion deal to buy San Diego biotech Arena Pharmaceuticals in late 2021.