Mar 13, 2023 - Economy

Pfizer to buy cancer drugmaker Seagen for $43 billion

Dan Primack

People walk by Pfizer's headquarters in New York. — Pfizer's headquarters in New York. Photo: Bess Adler/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Pfizer on Monday said it has agreed to buy cancer drugmaker Seagen for $43 billion in cash.

Why it matters: This is the largest merger announcement so far in 2023, and the largest pharma deal since Abbvie bought Allergan in 2020.

It also reflects how Pfizer is using its COVID vaccine fortune to bolster its other businesses.

Details: Pfizer will pay $229 per share in cash, representing a 32.7% premium to where Seagen shares closed trading last Friday.

More, from FiercePharma: "Pfizer's largest oncology asset, breast cancer drug Ibrance, has been on decline. Collaboration revenue around Astellas-shared prostate cancer med Xtandi has been flat. And Pfizer's commercial and pipeline portfolios lack new star products that could move the market ... Seagen is an attractive target with four commercial medicines and many more likely coming in its deep pipeline full of antibody-drug conjugate candidates."

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Pfizer to buy cancer drugmaker Seagen for $43 billion

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