Pfizer Inc.’s appetite for acquisitions shows no signs of abating as it announced this morning its plan to acquire biotech Seagen Inc. for a whopping $43 billion in a move that will double the size of its early stage oncology pipeline. Under the deal, unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both firms, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) will pay Seagen (Nasdaq: SGEN) $229 per share. Seagen expects to amass $2.2 billion in revenue in 2023, representing 12% year-on-year-growth, royalties and collaboration and license agreements from its four, U.S. FDA-approved products for the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, antibody-drug conjugate drugs Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin), Padcev (enfortumab vedotin) and Tivdak (tisotumab vedotin), and tyrosine kinase inhibitor Tukysa (tucatinib).
Provention stock soars on news of Sanofi buyout: $2.9B cash to snag Tzield
Sanofi SA’s move to take over Provention Bio Inc. sent shares of the latter (NASDAQ:PRVB) on a rocket ride to trade midday at $24, up $17.30, or 258%, on word that the former will acquire the latter for $25 per share in cash, for an equity value of about $2.9 billion. The deal gives Sanofi the type 1 diabetes (T1D) therapy Tzield (teplizumab-mzwv), approved by the U.S. FDA last year as the first and only therapy to delay the onset of stage 3 disease in adults and in pediatric patients ages 8 and older with stage 2 T1D.
Biotech, med-tech exposure to US bank failures ‘limited’
As the aftershocks of two U.S. bank failures rattled global markets, the Biden administration rushed to calm the nerves of the world and to prevent an even bigger tremor. “The banking system is safe,” President Joe Biden said this morning, as he assured companies and individuals who had accounts with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) or Signature Bank that they would have access to all their deposits now that the federal government has taken over the failed banks. Meanwhile, many biotech and med-tech companies are allaying investor fears by disclosing how much they had deposited in either bank. Overall, the exposure of biotech companies appears to be “quite limited,” even though SVB has been a key financial institution for the sector, according to Graig Suvannavejh, managing director of Mizuho Securities USA LLC.
HSBC UK buying out UK arm of SVB, to relief of country’s biopharma, tech startups
The U.K. arm of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is to be acquired by HSBC UK Bank plc for a symbolic £1, after senior ministers and the Bank of England worked all weekend on a rescue package. The acquisition is to complete immediately, averting what the U.K. government had acknowledged would be a crisis for the biotech and tech sector. “I’m sure many of you will never forget this weekend and how close to disaster we all sailed,” said Steve Bates, chief executive of the Bioindustry Association, in response to the rescue. The deal “has kept the doors of some of the U.K.’s fastest-growing life sciences companies open,” he said.
FDA go-ahead, PRV for Acadia with Daybue in Rett syndrome
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. bagged a pediatric review voucher as part of the approval by the U.S. FDA March 10 of Daybue (trofinetide), a synthetic analogue of the amino‐terminal tripeptide of IGF-1 for Rett syndrome (RS). The first cleared therapy for RS, a rare genetic condition, Daybue will be available by the end of April 2023. About 4,500 patients have been diagnosed in the U.S. with the rare genetic disorder. Shares of the San Diego-based firm (NASDAQ:ACAD) were trading midday at $20.20, down 17 cents.
Also in the news
Ambrx, Anheart, Astellas, Ausperbio, First Wave, Genentech, Hookipa, Iliad, Innocare, Intercept, Merck, Molecular Templates, Obseva, Palvella, Pfizer, Ratio, Seagen, Shennon, Theracosbio