LONDON: Pfizer Inc. on Monday agreed to pay $5.4 billion in cash for sickle cell disease drugmaker Global Blood Therapeutics, as it looks to capitalize on a surge in revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.
Pfizer will pay $68.50 per GBT share, which represents a 7.3 percent premium to its Friday closing price. The deal is at a more than 40 percent premium where GBT was trading before the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer was in advanced talks to buy it on Thursday.
Pfizer’s 2021 revenue of $81.3 billion was nearly double the mark from the previous year, due to COVID-19 vaccine sales. With the addition of its COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid, Pfizer is expected to generate around $100 billion in revenue this year, but sales from both products are expected to decline going forward.
Pfizer has been on the lookout for acquisitions that could bring in billions in annual sales by the end of the decade.
“We have very deliberately taken a strategy of diversification in our M&A deals,” Aamir Malik, Pfizer’s top dealmaker, said in an interview. He said the company was focused on improving growth for the second half of the decade, rather than large deals that generate value through cost cuts.
“We think that there are opportunities across all therapeutic areas that we’re active in,” Malik said, noting that the company was also agnostic about size for future deals.
In May, Pfizer struck an $11.6 billion deal for migraine drug maker Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding and recently also completed a $6.7 billion deal to buy Arena Pharmaceuticals.
With the acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics, Pfizer adds sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta, which was approved in 2019 and is expected to top $260 million in sales this year. It will also pick up two pipeline assets — GBT601 and inclacumab — targeting the same disease.
Pfizer said if they are all approved, it believes GBT’s drugs could generate more than $3 billion in sales annually at their peak.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people in the United States.
GBT Chief Executive Officer Ted Love said that Pfizer’s resources and multinational infrastructure will allow the company to launch Oxbryta in additional markets and boost its uptake.
“We really have no infrastructure outside of that (US and western Europe) and it takes time and money to build out those infrastructures and Pfizer already has all of it,” Love said.
Shares of Global Blood rose 4.5 percent following the deal announcement.
Flush with cash, Pfizer buys Global Blood Therapeutics in $5.4bn deal
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Flush with cash, Pfizer buys Global Blood Therapeutics in $5.4bn deal
- Pfizer’s 2021 revenue of $81.3 billion was nearly double the mark from the previous year, due to COVID-19 vaccine sales.
Saudi banking sector outlook stable on higher non-oil growth: Moody’s
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s banking sector outlook remains stable as stronger non-oil economic growth and solid capital buffers support lending and profitability, Moody’s Ratings said, forecasting continued expansion despite liquidity constraints.
In its latest report, credit rating agency Moody’s said the Kingdom’s non-oil gross domestic product is projected to expand by 4.2 percent this year, up from 3.7 percent recorded in 2025.
In January, S&P Global echoed a similar view, saying banks operating in Saudi Arabia are expected to sustain strong lending growth in 2026, driven by financing demand tied to Vision 2030 projects.
Fitch Ratings also underscored the healthy state of Saudi Arabia’s banking system last month, stating that credit growth and high net interest margins are supporting bank profitability in the Kingdom.
Commenting on the latest report, Ashraf Madani, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s Ratings, said: “We expect credit demand to remain robust, but tight liquidity conditions will continue to limit the sector’s lending capacity.”
Madani added that operating conditions in Saudi Arabia will continue to support banks’ strong asset quality and profitability.
“The operating environment for banks remains buoyant, underpinned by a forecast increase in non-oil GDP growth, robust solvency and continued progress toward the government’s economic diversification goals,” he added.
Moody’s said authorities in the Kingdom are introducing business-friendly reforms to bolster investment and private sector activity, while implementing key development projects and preparing for major global events.
Saudi Arabia continues to advance reforms including full foreign ownership rights, simplified capital market registration procedures and improved investor protections, which could accelerate credit growth to 8 percent this year.
Problem loans are expected to remain near historical lows at around 1.3 percent of total loans, supported by ongoing credit growth, favorable operating conditions and lower interest rates, which collectively strengthen borrowers’ repayment capacity.
Retail credit risk remains controlled in Saudi Arabia because most borrowers are government employees with stable income streams.
“Concentration of single borrowers and specific sectors remains high although the growing proportion of consumer loans — now nearing 50 percent of overall sector lending — continues to reduce aggregate concentration risk,” added Moody’s.
The report said profitability is expected to remain solid among Saudi banks, supported by sustained loan growth and fee income.
Margins are expected to remain stable despite lower asset yields as banks take advantage of credit demand to widen loan spreads on existing and new lending.
Moody’s expects net income to tangible assets to remain stable at 1.8 percent to 1.9 percent this year.
The report added that Saudi banks benefit from a very high likelihood of government support in the event of any failures.
“We assume a very high likelihood of government support in the event of a bank failure. This is based on the government’s track record of timely intervention,” Moody’s said.
It added that Saudi Arabia remains the only G-20 country that has not adopted a banking resolution framework. However, it is the only Gulf Cooperation Council member to have introduced a law for systemically important financial institutions.
