AstraZeneca to sell antibiotic pills business to Pfizer

In addition to the upfront payment, Pfizer will make a deferred payment of $175 million in January 2019 and could deliver up to $250 million in payments tied to drug development benchmarks, up to $600 million tied to sales performance and additional royalties.

The deal includes three antibiotics already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, including Merrem, Zinforo and Zavicefta.

U.S. pharma giant Pfizer, which spectacularly failed in its £69 billion bid to buy AstraZeneca two years ago, today gobbled up its rival drugmaker’s antibiotics business.

The deal is especially noteworthy considering how AstraZeneca warded off Pfizer’s $120 billion takeover attempt two years ago.

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) has agreed to sell its small molecule antibiotics business to former suitor Pfizer, the London-listed pharmco has said.

As a result of the divestment, AstraZeneca will cease to invest in commercial activities in its small molecule antibiotics business, and doesn’t anticipate that any of its sales force will be transferred to Pfizer as part of the transaction, a spokeswoman said in an e-mailed response to questions. ATM-AVI, which is in phase II development, is a fixed-dose combination of aztreonam and avibactam, while CXL, which has completed a phase II trial, combines Zinforo with avibactam.

MedImmune’s biologics portfolio, however, are not included in this deal.

John Young, group president of Pfizer’s essential health division, welcomed the acquisition, which he said would bolster the pharma giant’s global portfolio. Earlier this week, Pfizer acquired Medivation, a cancer drug developer, for $14 billion in cash.

Since the U.S. Treasury scuppered its $160 billion tax-inversion-fueled bid for Dublin-based Allergan plc in April, Pfizer has entered into commitments with a total potential value north of $21 billion.

A number of governments, including both in the US and the United Kingdom, have called on pharma and biotech to do more to create new drugs that tackle resistance-but there has been reluctance given a small or non-existent ROI.