Pfizer to buy biopharma firm Medivationin US$14 bn deal

Pfizer is acquiring the cancer drug maker Medivation in a US$14 billion definitive merger agreement. The deal values Medivation at US$81.50 per share, a notable premium to the $52.50-per-share offer Sanofi had made earlier this year.

In April, Sanofi went public with its US$9.3 billion bid for the company. Medivation rejected that bid but it wasn’t long before it was fielding other offers. There were also speculations about possible buyers, including reports that Pfizer was in the mix, after it terminated its merger with Allergan in April after the US Treasury released new rules.

“The addition of Medivation will strengthen Pfizer’s Innovative Health business and accelerate its pathway to a leadership position in oncology, one of our key focus areas, which we believe will drive greater growth and scale of that business over the long-term,” said Ian Read, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer.

Medivation’s portfolio includes Xtandi (enzalutamide), the leading novel hormone therapy in the US today.It generated approximately US$2.2 billion in worldwide net sales over the past four quarters. Since its approval for advanced metastatic prostate cancer by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2012, Xtandi has treated 64,000 men to date in the US alone.

In addition, Medivation has a promising, wholly-owned, late-stage oncology pipeline, which includes two development-stage oncology assets, talazoparib and pidilizumab.Pidilizumab is an immune-oncology (IO) asset that has the potential to be combined with IO therapies in Pfizer’s portfolio.

“We believe that Pfizer is the ideal partner to extend the reach of our blockbuster XTANDI franchise and take our promising, late-stage assets — talazoparib and pidiluzimab — to their next stages of development so that they can be made available to patients as quickly as possible,” said David Hung, M.D., founder, president and CEO of Medivation.

“The proposed acquisition of Medivation will build upon Pfizer’s success with our Ibrance (palbociclib) launch in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer and with our strong immuno-oncology portfolio,” said Albert Bourla, Group President, Pfizer Innovative Health.

“Ibrance and Xtandi are anchor brands in breast and prostate cancer respectively, giving Pfizer leadership in two hormone-driven cancers. Similar to Ibrance in the breast cancer setting, Xtandi is being explored for its potential to move from metastatic prostate cancer to treat earlier stages of non-metastatic prostate cancer. In addition, Medivation’s portfolio within prostate cancer and across diverse tumors will complement Pfizer’s broad IO portfolio.”

“Together, we believe Pfizer and Medivation can bring the full force of our combined research and resources to combat two of the most common cancers, as well as speed cures and make accessible breakthrough medicines to patients, redefining life with cancer,” concluded Bourla.

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Category: Features, Pharmaceuticals