Pfizer Spends $5.4 Billion Cash to Purchase Company That Specializes in Treatment of Blood Disorders

Thinking about it, this certainly does appear to be a purchase based on self-interest.  The company that manufactured a product, potentially creating long-term issues with blood disorders (ie clotting), now purchases the company that specializes in the treatment of blood disorders.

Am I the only one that sees this as sketchy?

Aug 8 (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc on Monday agreed to pay $5.4 billion in cash for Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT.O), as it looks to capitalize on a surge in revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.

Pfizer will pay $68.50 per GBT share, which represents a 7.3% premium to its Friday closing price. The deal is at a more than 40% premium where GBT was trading before the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer was in advanced talks to buy it on Thursday.

Pfizer’s 2021 revenue of $81.3 billion was nearly double the mark from the previous year, due to COVID-19 vaccine sales. With the addition of its COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid, Pfizer is expected to generate around $100 billion in revenue this year, but sales from both products are expected to decline going forward.

Pfizer has been on the lookout for acquisitions that could bring in billions in annual sales by the end of the decade. (read more)

Aamir Malik, Pfizer’s top dealmaker, said the company was focused on improving growth for the second half of the decade. “We think that there are opportunities across all therapeutic areas that we’re active in,” Malik said.