Pfizer Inc will buy drug developer Arena Pharmaceuticals for $6.7 billion in cash, to add a promising treatment candidate that targets diseases affecting the stomach and intestine, Report informs referring to Reuters.
The $100 per share offer is double the last closing price of Arena’s shares, which surged 92% to $95.90 in premarket trading.
This is the latest deal Pfizer has struck this year to expand treatment pipeline. The company last month acquired immuno-oncology company Trillium Therapeutics Inc for about $2.22 billion to strengthen its arsenal of blood cancer therapies.
Arena is developing several treatments for gastroenterology, dermatology and cardiology. Its lead candidate, etrasimod, is being tested in a late-stage study in ulcerative colitis, as well as a mid-to-late stage study in Crohn’s disease, both types of inflammatory bowel diseases that cause ulcers in the digestive tract.
Pfizer is also developing a treatment for ulcerative colitis, a chronic and inflammatory bowel disease that affects 3 million people in the United States. The candidate is currently in a mid-stage study, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022.