Pfizer dampens Astra bid hopes with German Merck cancer deal

Tuesday, 25 November 2014 00:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Pfizer (dampened investors’ expectations of a renewed bid for AstraZeneca last week by signing a major cancer drug deal with Germany’s Merck KGaA, reducing the US firm’s need for Astra’s products. Merck will get an upfront payment of $ 850 million from the US drugmaker for sharing rights to develop its experimental immunotherapy drug with Pfizer. It is also eligible for up to $ 2 billion in payments based on the medicine’s future success. Merck’s MSB0010718C is part of a class of drugs known as anti-PD-L1 therapies, which work by blocking a tumour’s ability to evade the immune system’s defence. The exclusive nature of the deal means Pfizer and Merck cannot collaborate with any other drugmaker in the PD-LI or related PD-1 area, unless they jointly agree to do so. Such immune-boosting medicines represent the hottest area of cancer research and are also a major focus for AstraZeneca, which has a rival anti-PD-L1 product in development called MEDI4736. Winning access to AstraZeneca’s cancer pipeline has been viewed as a major goal for Pfizer, which was unsuccessful with a $ 118 billion bid for the British group in May. It has a chance to renew its approach under British takeover rules from 26 November. Shares in Merck jumped 2.4% on the news, while AstraZeneca slid 2.2% by 0510 ET. The British company’s stock had already fallen on Friday after several people familiar with the matter said Pfizer seemed unlikely to renew its approach. Pfizer said immuno-oncology was “a top priority” for the firm but a spokeswoman said British rules did not allow it to make any comment on its intentions toward AstraZeneca. Merck said in September it in talks about a partnership deal for the drug, which is being investigated as a treatment for lung and ovarian cancer, as well as the rare skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma.

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