Pfizer Inc. announced that it will acquire Baxter International’s portfolio of marketed vaccines for $635 million. As part of the transaction, Pfizer will also acquire a portion of Baxter’s facility in Orth, Austria, where these vaccines are manufactured.
Baxter’s portfolio of marketed vaccines consists of NeisVac-C and FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac. NeisVac-C is a vaccine that helps protect against meningitis caused by group C meningococcal meningitis (MenC). This serious infection of the membrane covering the brain may be fatal in roughly 10-15 percent of patients1 and 30 percent to more than 50 percent of survivors may suffer from severe physical, social and mental damage2. MenC is one of the most prevalent meningococcal serogroups in many parts of the world and vaccination with NeisVac-C has been shown to be highly effective.
FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac is a vaccine that helps protect against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), an infection of the brain, which is transmitted by the bite of ticks infected with the TBE-virus. Every year, the TBE virus causes thousands of cases of neuroinvasive illness in humans across Europe and Asia and is a growing public health concern in Europe and other parts of the world3. FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac is approved in 30 countries and has been marketed for over 30 years with approximately 120 million doses produced since 1976.
Pfizer does not expect this transaction to have an impact on its 2014 financial guidance issued on July 29, 2014. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions as well as regulatory approvals in several markets, including some countries in the European Union, and is expected to occur by the end of 2014.