In an effort to strengthen its position in the treatment of cancer, the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced Monday the acquisition of the biotech Seagen, for 43 billion dollars.
In a statement, the CEO of the American company, Albert Bourla said that Pfizer is deploying its financial resources to advance in the fight against cancer.
“Oncology continues to be the primary growth driver for global medicine, and this acquisition (of Seagen) will strengthen Pfizer’s position in this important space and contribute significantly to the achievement of short and long term financial goals. Pfizer term,” he explained.
For his part, the chief executive of Seagen, David Epstein underlined that “the proposed combination with Pfizer is the right next step for Seagen in the pursuit of its strategy”.
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Seagen, involved in both research, development and commercialization of cancer treatments, is growing, forecasting a 12% jump in revenue in 2023 to $2.2 billion. The takeover operation has been approved by the boards of directors of the two groups.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Seagen has caught the attention of Pfizer and other big drugmakers because of its new cancer drugs, known as “antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs,” which are able to target tumors and then hitting them with a toxic agent.
Pfizer is offering $229 per share in cash, or a $43 billion valuation for Seagen.
The pharmaceutical group will finance the transaction by going into debt and dipping into its cash. He hopes to complete the takeover at the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024 once the various regulatory and shareholder green lights from Seagen have been obtained.
With MAP
