Pfizer acquires Global Blood for $5.4B

Pfizer has agreed to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics for $5.4 billion. Based on this, Global Blood Therapeutics will hand its recently approved drug Oxbryta (inclacumab) for sickle cell disease and two other experimental medicines for the rare blood condition.

Pfizer agreed to pay $68.50 in cash per Global Blood share, a premium of 7% over Friday’s the fifth of August closing price for the California company’s stock but double what they were worth last Wednesday, the third of August.

The interest of Pfizer in Sickle cell disease back to 2011 when it entered a licensing deal with GlycoMimetics for a potential sickle cell treatment that failed a phase 3 study.

Currently, Sickle cell patients are living in a time where several options are available to treat vaso-occlusive crises. Thanks to the different molecules that were approved recently by FDA. In 2017 Enadri for Emmaus medical was approved to reduce the Vaso-occlusive crisis. After that, Adakveo, developed by Novartis, was also approved in 2019; the same year, Oxbryta received its green light from the FDA.

With this acquisition, Oxbryta (inclacumab) is expected to reach more patients worldwide, thanks to Pfizer’s scientific offices around the globe.

Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited and lifelong health conditions that affect the red blood cells. The most serious condition is called sickle cell anemia. It is common among African and Caribbean family background populations. In the United States, it affects between 70,000 to 100,000 Americans.

t is one of the most common distressing symptoms of sickle cell disease. It is also known as episode pain. The trigger of crisis in sickle cell is still unknown, but dehydration, too much exercise, and especially cold weather may exacerbate it. Additionally, some researchers found that the body’s nitric oxide level is correlated to the probability of pain episode onset. The episode itself may last up to seven (7) days in several cases.