Pfizer a U.S. drug maker is exploring some options for early-stage treatments
Key Takeaways:
- On Thursday, Pfizer Inc. announced it was researching potential early-stage cancer and rare disease treatments.
- “We believe these steps will position us to lead the industry in reaching more patients,” a company representative wrote in an email.
- Global Blood Therapeutics, a company that produces medications for sickle cell disease, will be acquired by Pfizer in a $4.5 billion deal announced in August 2022.
In an effort to concentrate on “high-impact” medicines and vaccines, Pfizer Inc. said on Thursday that it is looking into options for some early-stage treatments for cancer and rare diseases.
The American drugmaker stated that these options included forming a new company or working in partnership with other pharmaceutical companies to develop these medicines.
Pfizer will now concentrate on utilising technologies like gene editing to internally develop treatments for rare diseases while also looking into opportunities for early-stage gene therapy programmes and its Boulder, Colorado, research facility that focuses on cancer.
The drugmaker said that the Durham, North Carolina, gene therapy facility would also look to advance externally.
That would allow the business, which has been heavily investing in its internal pipeline of medications and striking deals to increase revenue, to concentrate its internal portfolio of experimental treatments on the areas where it believes it is “best-positioned.”
In an email statement, a company representative stated, “We believe these steps will position us to lead the industry in reaching more patients.”
The spokesperson added that depending on the externalisation strategies, Pfizer might maintain ties to some of these programmes through strategic investments.
A few months after announcing an $11.6 billion acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding, Pfizer announced in August 2022 a $4.5 billion deal for the maker of medications for sickle cell disease, Global Blood Therapeutics.
Barron’s, a financial publication, broke the story about Pfizer’s plans on Thursday.
