Pfizer to buy cancer drug maker Trillium for $2.3B

By: Alexandra S.

Pfizer, maker of one of the top selling COVID-19 vaccines, said Monday it plans to buy all the shares of cancer drug maker Trillium that it doesn’t own for $2.26 billion.

Pfizer said it will pay $18.50 a share for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based drug maker. The price represents a 118-percent premium to the stock’s 60-day weighted average price, the companies said in a press release.

Shares of Trillium skyrocketed 188 percent to $17.56, while Pfizer’s stock rose nearly 3.7 percent in early-day trading.

Last September, Pfizer invested $25 million in Trillium as part of its Breakthrough Growth Initiative, when Jeff Settleman, senior vice president of Pfizer’s oncology research and development group, was added to Trillium’s scientific advisory board.

Trillium is focusing on the science behind blood cancers, and is working on ways to enhance the ability of patients’ innate immune system to detect and destroy cancer sells.

According to both companies, over one million people globally were diagnosed with blood cancer in 2020, including leukemia, multiple myeloma and lymphoma.

Pfizer said deal to buy Trillium will help advance its research and further develop advance blood cancer treatments.

“The proposed acquisition of Trillium builds on our strong track record of leadership in Oncology, enhancing our hematology portfolio as we strive to improve outcomes for people living with blood cancers around the globe,” said Andy Schmeltz, global president and general manager of Pfizer oncology.

“Our deep experience in understanding the science of blood cancers, along with the diverse knowledge base we have developed across our growing hematology portfolio of eight approved and investigational therapies, provide us with a foundation to advance these important potential medicines to patients who need them,” Schmeltz added.