Baxter International is selling its vaccine business to Pfizer for $635 million as it prepares to split into two companies.
The sale includes Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter's two commercially marketed vaccines: one that helps protect against meningitis and one that guards against tick-borne encephalitis, the company said today.
Baxter said it continues to explore “strategic options,” such as partnering or divesting its research and development programs that focus on the flu and Lyme disease.
“This action reflects our strategic priority to optimize the portfolio and enhance focus in specific disease areas as Baxter's BioScience organization prepares to become a separate, independent global biopharmaceutical company,” Ludwig Hantson, president of Baxter BioScience, said in a statement. “We are redirecting resources and investing in our robust pipeline centered on core areas of expertise — hematology and immunology — and through technology platforms like gene therapy and biosimilars.”
“Through this acquisition, we will add two high-quality and lifesaving vaccines that bring scale and depth to our portfolio,” Pfizer Vaccines President Susan Silbermann said in a separate statement.
As part of the deal, New York-based Pfizer also will acquire a portion of Baxter's facility in Orth, Austria, where the vaccines are made, Pfizer said.
The agreement is expected to close by year-end.
Pfizer, whose products include Advil and Viagra, had $51.6 billion in 2013 revenue.
Baxter had $15.3 billion in global net sales in 2013. Its products include treatments for hemophilia and other bleeding disorders, as well as anesthetics and drug delivery systems.
In March, Baxter announced plans to split into two companies: one for developing and marketing biopharmaceuticals, the other for medical products.
Hantson will be CEO of the biopharmaceuticals company. Current Baxter CEO Robert Parkinson Jr. will be chairman and CEO of the medical products company, which will keep the Baxter International name.
Baxter shares traded slightly higher this morning, at $76.77 a share. They closed at $76.34 Wednesday.
The story "Baxter to offload vaccine business to Pfizer for $635 million" originally appeared on the website for Crain's Chicago Business.
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