Pfizer intends to acquire Seegene Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer intends to acquire the pharmaceutical company Seegene, which has a market value of $ 30 billion.

According to Arabiya.net, the value of the deal is expected to increase by offering a premium over the company's current value.

The potential deal is the latest for a major drugmaker that aims to add to a promising class of targeted cancer therapies, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

The sources said the talks were at an early stage and there was no guarantee that an agreement would be reached. A number of hurdles will have to be overcome, including the possibility of a rigorous antitrust review of any proposal.

Seegene was in advanced talks last year after a takeover bid from Merck, a deal that would have been worth $40bn or more, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement.

After talks with Merck broke down last year, Seigen hired David Epstein, a former Novartis director.

The deal would help Pfizer, one of the world's largest drugmakers with sales of $100 billion last year, add a class of agents to its suite of cancer treatments that have been shown to work with so-called immunotherapies against some of the most common tumors.

It could also help Pfizer offset the $17 billion in sales the company expects to lose due to patent expiration by 2030. Pfizer has set a goal of adding $25 billion in revenue by the end of the decade from business development moves including operations acquisition. Seegene generated nearly $2 billion in sales last year.

It is noteworthy that Pfizer's budget, which amounts to about $ 22.7 billion in sales of vaccines, coronavirus drugs and other products, is crowded with cash.

Last year, Pfizer acquired pharmaceutical company Global Blood Therapeutics for more than $5 billion, and acquired Biohaven Pharmaceuticals Holdings for more than $10 billion.

More recently, Seegene received approval for therapies for cancers such as Hodgkin's and other lymphomas, and recently showed promise in combination with immunotherapy against other types of tumors including a form of breast cancer.