■ Pfizer Inc. announced it is spending $5.4 billion to buy Global Blood Therapeutics Inc., maker of a sickle-

Drug giant seeking new products as virus concerns dim

Pfizer Inc. has agreed to buy Global Blood Therapeutics Inc., the maker of a drug for sickle-cell disease, in a deal worth $5.4 billion (U.S.).

The New York drug giant will pay $68.50 for all outstanding shares of Global Blood, the companies said Monday in a statement. That’s double the price of the stock on Aug. 3, when Bloomberg reported the company was drawing takeover interest.

The total equity value of the deal excluding debt is about $4.6 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Both boards unanimously approved the transaction. Pfizer will gain Oxbryta, South San Francisco, Calif.-based Global Blood’s therapy for sickle-cell disease that sold about $195 million last year and the companies see as a potential blockbuster.

Pfizer needs new products as concerns about the pandemic wane, threatening revenue from its topselling COVID-19 vaccine and its pill to treat the disease, Paxlovid.

“Pfizer has been clear that a large portion of its COVID-19 vaccine and tablet windfall will be invested to accelerate top-line growth — targeting the addition of at least $25 billion of risk-adjusted revenue to 2030 expectations,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts John Murphy and Sam Fazeli wrote in a note.

“Consensus calls for GBT sicklecell disease-therapy sales of around $1 billion in 2026, which will boost Pfizer’s rare-disease business. Further deals are expected to be announced.”

Sickle-cell is a painful and sometimes life-threatening condition that mainly affects Black people. Global Blood’s drug was approved in the U.S. in November 2019 and has also been cleared in the EU and other countries.

“Globally, there are about 4.5 million people that are living with sickle-cell disease,” said Aamir Malik, Pfizer’s chief business innovation officer, in an interview.

“But the vast majority of folks are undertreated: It’s probably only getting to 10 per cent of the 100,000 eligible patients in the U.S.”

Pfizer is well-equipped to tap that market opportunity through the advocacy and reimbursement capabilities it has built up for its rare disease portfolio, including in hematology, Malik said.