Pfizer is thinking small these days. In keeping with the deal-making theme at the J.P. Morgan conference, Pfizer ($PFE) CEO Ian Read carefully mapped out the pharma giant's near-term strategy, with plans to focus on reasonably priced "bolt-on" acquisitions and licensing pacts while pushing five key products which have either just hit the market or are headed to the FDA.
Pfizer became the industry's poster child for megamergers in recent years. But Read made it clear that the days of the big buyout are over. The $50 million Icagen buyout stands out as an ideal fit for Pfizer these days as it shrinks its R&D operations and tailors its clinical research efforts with key strategic contracts struck with Parexel and Icon, according to a report from The Daily Deal.
"We're only going to do bolt-on acquisitions or licensing deals that make sense financially," he told a gathering in San Francisco, according to the AP.
If Icagen represents the ideal buyout for Pfizer in 2012, don't expect the Big Pharma outfit to pay any premiums anytime soon. Pfizer scooped up its partner in pain last summer for what was widely viewed as a bargain basement price, far beneath the price forecast by analysts.
But with Lipitor revenue falling fast as generic competitors muscle in to the market, Pfizer hasn't lost its appetite for big earners. Prevnar 13 and the lung cancer drug Xalkori are expected to add significant revenue, while three experimental meds--the kidney cancer drug axitinib, tofacitinib for rheumatoid arthritis and the anti-clotting treatment Eliquis--show great promise.
- read the story from The Daily Deal
- here's the AP report