Pfizer bets on British drugmaker with $500m deal
Pfizer has inked a $525m (£401m) deal with ReViral, after the pandemic paved the way for more acquisitions within pharma and biotech sectors.
The famed Covid-19 vaccine maker is looking to improve its pipelines of treatments, with ReViral a specialist in drugs for respiratory viruses.
It its Pfizer’s second large acquisition in just six months, following the $6.7bn (£5.1bn) takeover of Arena Pharmaceuticals in December.
“At Pfizer, we have a strong heritage in, and commitment to, fighting infectious diseases, most recently evidenced by our delivery of the first authorized vaccine and oral therapy to combat COVID-19,” chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said,
“We’re continuing to grow our pipeline – through our own research-and-development efforts, such as our investigational RSV vaccine programs, as well as strategic investments in companies like ReViral – with a focus on end-to-end capabilities to help protect patients from severe illness, hospitalization, and death.”
RSV is a respiratory pathogen which infects around 64m people each year and causes about 160,000 deaths globally.