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www.fdanews.com/articles/169923-pfizer-to-purchase-hospira-for-17-billion
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Pfizer to Purchase Hospira for $17 Billion

February 11, 2015

Pfizer will shell out $17 billion to acquire leading injectables and biosimilars maker Hospira, the companies said last week.

The acquisition will greatly expand New York-based Pfizer’s portfolio of branded sterile injectables by adding Hospira’s generic sterile injectables, including its off-patent sterile injectables, the companies said.

For Hospira, the deal will mean expanding its commercial footprint beyond its usual markets of the United States and the EU.

Both companies say the deal will benefit their respective biosimilar development programs.

Hospira already has several biosimilars on the market outside the U.S. and last month the Illinois-based firm became just the fourth company to publicly announce a U.S. biosimilar application. It also has a partnership with South Korea-based Celltrion to market that firm’s proposed biosimilar in the U.S. – a partnership Pfizer and Hospira promised to work closely on as their merger progresses.

Pfizer’s John Young noted on a call with reporters that $100 billion of biologics are expected to lose patent protection in the next five to 10 years.

Hospira’s issues with good manufacturing practice violations also came up during the call, although Pfizer executives said they had visited several key Hospira facilities and are confident that any issues have already been closed or are in the process of being resolved.

The merger is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the second half of the year, the companies said. Pfizer will end up paying $90 per share, with two-thirds of the money coming from cash on hand and the rest from new debt.

See the merger announcement here: www.fdanews.com/02-05-15-PfizerBuyingHospira.pdf. — Bryan Koenig