Pharma Industry Gains: Pfizer Signs A Deal With Cellectis
Pharma Industry Gains: Pfizer Signs A Deal With Cellectis
US drugmaker Pfizer Inc, that had failed to buy AstraZeneca Plc last month in an $118 billion bid is now looking to make gains. Every cloud has a silver lining if you wait long enough. For Pfizer, that saying has certainly come true. It has signed a deal with French biotech Cellectis SA to develop cancer immunotherapy drugs.
Increasing the reserves of the body's immune system to fend off tumors is an area for research that is creating waves in the scientific world. This is what had attracted Pfizer to AstraZeneca. The capacity to cut costs and taxes was the magnet that drew Pfizer to AstraZeneca.
In this new deal, Cellectis will obtain an upfront payment of $80 million plus funding for new research costs. The French biotech firm will also get a chance to access development, commercial and regulatory milestone payments as high as &185 million for each Pfizer product. Tiered royalties on any eventual sales are also on anvil.
Pfizer has also acquired rights to develop products against 15 biological targets for fighting cancer while 12 more targets will be selected by Cellectus. Pfizer, in additional this, will purchase a stake of 10% in Cellectis through newly issued shares priced at €9.25 each.
Cellectis is in news for its advanced research. The French firm is developing the Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell or CAR-T which involves using immunotherapies using engineered cells from single donors for multiple patients.
Apart from obvious gains, the deal has also drawn optimism from investors. Cellectis's shares surged by more than 50% in early trading. Strengthening the immune system of the body to fend off tumors is an important area for drug research and it is one of the top factors that facilitated this deal.
Pfizer's research head Mikael Dolsten has indicated that the French group's skills with Pfizer's record for developing cancer drugs will lead to a “world class partnership”. Cellectis is opening a site in the United States for close collaboration with scientists from Pfizer.
Pfizer has collaborated with Cellectis in a clever move to tap new markets and expand horizons. Cancer has become a common disease now and it is through the development of medication that it can be battled well. Coping with cancer needs world class medication and the partnership between Pfizer and Cellectis will prove eventful with regard to this.
Pfizer itself has had its share of successes and failures. With this new deal, things look all set to change for the biotech industry. With this new partnership, the two companies will develop world class drugs that can save lives.
