Pfizer Inc. is in discussions to acquire Seagen Inc. It’s the latest potential deal for a major pharmaceutical company to add a promising class of targeted cancer therapies to its portfolio.
According to people familiar with the matter, the talks are at an early stage, and there is no guarantee that there will be a deal. The company will need to overcome many hurdles including the potential for a strict antitrust review of any proposal.
If there is a deal, it’d be definitely big: Seagen has a market value of about $30 billion and would be expected to get a premium over that.
Last year, Seagen was in advanced talks to be acquired by Merck, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement. Back then, Pfizer was eyeing Seagen, too.
This deal can help Pfizer add to its lineup of cancer treatments a class of agents that have shown promise working with so-called immunotherapies against some of the most prevalent tumors.
Also, it may help Pfizer offset $17 billion in sales that the company projects it could lose due to patent expirations by 2030.
The company has set a goal of growing revenue by $25 billion by the end of the decade from business-development moves including acquisitions. Seagen made nearly $2 billion in sales last year.
Last year, the pharmaceutical company acquired sickle-cell-drug maker Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. for more than $5 billion.
Seagen, of Bothell, Washington, helped create a class of cancer therapy known as antibody-drug conjugates that works like a guided missile attacking tumors with toxic agents.
These therapies have been approved for cancers such as Hodgkin’s and other lymphomas and, more recently, have shown promise in combination with immunotherapy against other tumors including a form of breast cancer.
The potential in breast cancer treatment could be particularly appealing to Pfizer, which offers a top-selling drug Ibrance treating the disease.
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