Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced that Seagen, which they bought for $43 billion, will be able to offer cancer treatment to the world “on an unprecedented scale”. Bourla described Seagen’s solution as “one of the greatest technologies to fight cancer.”Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced on Monday that for $43 billion it has acquired Seagen, a leading developer of drugs called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) designed to directly kill cancer cells and protect healthy ones. . “We can add value to what Seagen brings. It’s more or less the same as when we had mRNA. It’s the same here, with our scale, our capabilities,” Bourla said.
Pfizer can fight cancer with Seagen’s innovative treatment
According to Seagen’s website, ADCs use antibodies to deliver small molecule drugs directly to the tumor site, providing greater efficacy by reducing side effects. Bourla described the ADCs as “one of the greatest technologies to fight cancer” and compared them to the successful mRNA technology the company helped produce with BioNTech for Covid-19 vaccines. In Covid vaccines, mRNA technology is used to trick our immune system into developing antibodies against the virus. According to Bourla, ADCs are “turbo-charged guided missiles that attack cancer cells and can make a huge difference.”On the other hand, Seagen has been on the agenda for a while with the cancer drugs it has developed. Adcetris, Seagen’s best-selling product, which treats cancers of the lymphatic system, generated $839 million in sales alone last year. Last year, the sales of Padcev’s drug, developed by the company for urinary tract cancers, increased by 33 percent and reached 451 million dollars. According to Pfizer’s press release, Seagen expects to generate approximately $2.2 billion in revenue this year, corresponding to 12 percent year-over-year growth. Pfizer thinks Seagen could generate more than $10 billion in revenue by 2030.
Cancer treatment is crucial to Pfizer
Pfizer’s oncology division generated $12.1 billion in revenue last year. According to the statement, the company has 24 approved treatments in this division, including the breast cancer treatment Ibrance. It’s no surprise that Pfizer has turned its target to oncology as Covid-related sales plummet. Because the company knows that there will be a significant decrease in its revenues after Covid ($17 billion until 2030), it would be the right move to close this gap with a new field.According to the World Health Organization, cancer is responsible for about 10 million deaths in 2020. The American Cancer Society expects the global burden of cancer to increase significantly through 2040, estimating that new cases will reach 27.5 million and cancer deaths will reach 16.3 million. Finally, the acquisition is expected to be in-depth with regulators and the deal is expected to be completed in early 2024.
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