Pfizer Inc. is in advanced talks to buy Global Blood Therapeutics Inc., the maker of a recently approved drug for sickle-cell disease, for about $5 billion, in the latest move by the drug giant to bolster its portfolio and pipeline.
Pfizer is aiming to seal a deal for GBT in the coming days, according to people familiar with the matter. The situation is still fluid, and other suitors are still in the mix, some of the people said. GBT announces its second-quarter results Monday.
Bloomberg reported earlier this week that potential buyers were circling GBT, without naming them. The shares shot up on the news, adding to earlier gains since the spring. They closed Thursday at $47.99, giving GBT a market value of just over $3 billion.
GBT, of South San Francisco, was founded in 2011. Buying the company would add to Pfizer’s presence in rare diseases, furnishing a drug already on sale for the treatment of sickle-cell disease as well as two in development that have produced positive results in preliminary studies.
The commercial treatment, called Oxbryta and approved in December, had just over $55 million in first-quarter sales.
Sickle-cell disease is an inherited blood disorder affecting about 100,000 people in the U.S., including 1 in 13 who are Black. Pfizer has been interested in sickle cell, but a drug it had been developing failed in 2019. It has another one in early-stage development.
There had been few drugs treating the disease, but it has drawn the interest of researchers in recent years due to scientific advances in understanding its molecular roots. Treatments like Oxbryta could face competition from gene therapies in development.
Featured News
DOJ and FTC Introduce Website for Reporting Anti-Competitive Healthcare Practices
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
US Congress Advances Legislation to Compel TikTok Sale
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
UK Financial Sector Advocates Enhanced Regulatory Accountability
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
Google and All 50 States Defend $700 Million Consumer Settlement
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
Colorado Enacts First Law to Protect Consumer Brainwave Data
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI