Oncological services are said to be largest growth contributor in world’s medicine industry, and Pfizer is leaning toward an acquisition of this service as the drugmaker is expected to see a decline in Covid-19 related sales this year.
This makes Pfizer’s recent $42 bn deal in acquiring cancer drug maker Seagen sensible as it will help to refill Pfizer’s drug pipeline for the time to come.
Seagen is a leading developer of medicine called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), which are designed to directly kill cancer cells and spare healthy ones, according to its statement on the website.
ADCs use antibodies to deliver small molecule drugs directly to tumors, potentially reducing side effects and increasing efficacy.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla described ADCs as “one of the greatest technologies to battle cancer” comparing them to the success of mRNA for vaccines. However, as the mRNA technology is used as a vehicle to deliver instructions to cells, ADCs “are turbo charge guided missiles that attack the cancer cells and can make a huge difference,” he said.
Pfizer’s cancer treatment portfolio will be bolstered by Seagen, which will bring four approved cancer therapies with combined sales of nearly $2 billion in 2022.
According to Seagen’s 2022 earnings release, Adcetris, Seagen’s top seller for lymph system cancers, brought in $839 million in sales last year. This represents a 19% increase over 2021.
Padcev, a treatment for cancers of the urinary tract, saw a 33% increase in sales to $451 million.
According to a Pfizer press release, Seagen expects to generate approximately $2.2 billion in revenue this year, representing a 12% year-over-year increase. Pfizer also stated that Seagen could contribute more than $10 billion in risk-adjusted sales by 2030, with “significant growth potential” beyond that year.
Meanwhile the stock market on Monday, faced a decline from pounding in the banking sector, The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.28%, its fifth straight day in the red. Indeed, the Nasdaq Composite reversed the trend to add 0.45% owing to the pharmaceutical industry.
Seagen jumped 15% while Pfizer gained 1.5%. Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly, though not involved in the deal also benefited from the trend amid crashing in the banking sector.