Pfizer To Acquire Medivation, Mulls Split

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Pfizer To Acquire Medivation, Mulls Split by PitchBook

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has agreed to acquire Medivation (NASDAQ: MDVN), a biopharma developing commercial cancer treatments, for $81.50 a share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of $14 billion. Medivation’s primary drug is Xtandi, a prostate cancer treatment that generated $2.2 billion in worldwide net sales during the past four quarters. The company has two more experimental drugs in the pipeline, one to treat breast cancer and another for use in immuno-oncology.

Pfizer previously announced plans to decide by the end of the year whether to split into two separate companies specializing separately in patent-protected drugs and generics, and CFO Frank D’Amalio told The Wall Street Journal that the acquisition won’t impact the timing of the pharmaceutical giant’s decision. The Medivation pickup, however, suggests the company may be bulking up its patent-protected holdings in anticipation of just such a split.

In April, Medivation rejected an unsolicited bid from the French drug maker Sanofi at $52.50 a share, believing (rightly, in retrospect) it could find a better deal. Medivation’s stock had traded as low as $26.41 in February, but rebounded to over $60 by early May. The company’s stock was up 19.74% following the Pfizer announcement, closing the day at $80.42. Pfizer’s shares fell $0.14 in the wake of the deal, closing at $34.84.

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