US pharmaceutical group Pfizer is in talks to buy Global Blood Therapeutics, maker of a recently approved sickle cell disease drug, for about $5 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Pfizer wants to reach an agreement “
in the next few days
”, indicates the economic newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter.
Other takeover candidates are still in the running, however, according to the newspaper.
Global Blood Therapeutics' sickle cell treatment is called Oxbryta.
Authorized for children over 12 since 2019, since last December in the United States, it has also been authorized for children aged 4 to 11, and has enabled the laboratory to generate a turnover of 55 million dollars in first quarter (+41%), but a net loss of $81.4 million.
Second quarter revenue will be released on Monday.
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Pfizer, for its part, saw its turnover jump 47% in the second quarter, reaching 27.74 billion dollars, a record, boosted by sales of the vaccine and the anti-Covid pill.
Its net profit soared 78% to $9.9 billion.
Global Blood Therapeutics shares were up 33.03% to $63.84 on Friday at the close of the New York Stock Exchange, a market capitalization of more than $4 billion.
That of Pfizer, on the other hand, fell 1.18% to 49.27 dollars.
