Pfizer Buys Global Blood Therapeutics for $5.4B, Continues Acquisition Splurge

August 11, 2022 - Pfizer is back at it with another acquisition, this time scooping up the rare disease pharmaceutical company Global Blood Therapeutics for $5.4 billion in cash. Pfizer’s acquisition will cede Oxbryta — one of the few approved sickle cell treatments — and allow for expansion of their rare disease treatment pipeline.  

Global Blood Therapeutics’ pipeline includes several drugs to treat rare hematological conditions, including sickle cell. The company’s only approved treatment is voxelotor, sold under the brand name Oxbryta. The drug netted $195 million in 2021, and Pfizer expects that it could eventually earn far more on the global market.  

One prescription or a 45-day supply of the drug costs a hefty $10,978, according to Drugs.com, although private plans and government insurance cover the drug on a case-by-case basis. Currently, there are only four other FDA-approved sickle cell disease treatments.  

Oxbryta acts by preventing the production of abnormal hemoglobin, which causes sickle-shaped red blood cells. It is generally a long-term treatment, and its use can prevent the more severe effects of sickle cell disease. The drug’s mechanism of action increases patients’ hemoglobin levels, allowing them to return to normal activity and manage their chronic disease. 

Sickle cell disease is an inherited hematological disease that alters the shape of red blood cells, and it can lead to serious complications involving the cardiovascular system, including stroke, hypertension, and anemia. Around 100,000 people live with sickle cell in the United States. ; worldwide, about 300,000 babies are born with the disease every year, and most don’t live past their fifth birthday.  

This most recent acquisition capped off a major spending spree for Pfizer that procured five pharmaceutical companies in the past two years.  

In August last year, Pfizer paid $2.26 billion for Trillium and their immunotherapies for hematological malignancies. At the end of that year, they also completed a deal with Arena Pharmaceuticals for $6.7 billion. Since then, Pfizer has absorbed Biohaven for $11.6 billion and ReViral for $525 million.  

The company plans to reap $25 billion in sales by 2030 from these new pharmaceutical acquisitions, and it’s likely they won’t stop acquiring new firms anytime soon. “I think we’re very excited about the opportunities that are ahead of us and the flexibility that our balance sheet gives us to pursue those,” said Aamir Malik, the company’s chief business innovation officer, during a second-quarter results call.