As we know, human beings boast a wide-ranging set of skills. Another known fact here would be that each skill brings something different to the table. Such a setup has ensured a collective brand of growth for us, thus producing a better-rounded generation than the world has ever seen, and when you have a situation so ideal like this one, the by-products are always going to be feisty. A clear example of it resides within the tech sphere. Built on an expansive ground, technology achieved success mainly because the way it aligned so well with our undying tendencies to explore a little more. It didn’t just facilitate the said pursuits, but it also guided us towards areas where we couldn’t have gone without its help. One area which we discovered purely on the back of technology was the medtech discipline. Medtech, right upon arriving on the scene, altered the way we looked at healthcare. There were no longer any questions regarding substandard methods, as we restructured our methodologies, making them all about efficiency and convenience. The warm welcome of medtech paved the way for many other branches associated with it. A prominent division to emerge from the idea would be of pharmtech. Vying to infuse a new vision into the medicinal landscape, pharmtech’s bag of milestones is already sizeable beyond anyone’s predictions. However, a recent deal indicates that it might be looking to make another significant addition.
Pharma giant, Pfizer has officially announced a new acquisition in the form of Arena Pharmaceuticals. Reported to be worth around $6.7 billion, the deal brings Arena’s specialized therapies for immuno-inflammatory diseases to Pfizer’s ecosystem. This, of course, also includes the much-talked about etrasimod, a drug candidate said to be designed for treating a host of immuno-inflammatory diseases including gastrointestinal and dermatological issues. The reason why having etrasimod in house is a big deal revolves around potential benefits of combining Pfizer’s commercial strength with the drug‘s innate groundbreaking capabilities. To give you a bit of context, a freshly-concluded phase II study suggests that etrasimod successfully triggered clinical response, clinical remission, or endoscopic improvement in most patients suffering from ulcerative colitis. Experienced in week 12, the positive effects were sustained all the way to week 46.
“We’re delighted to announce Pfizer’s proposed acquisition of Arena, recognizing Arena’s potentially best in class S1P molecule and our contribution to addressing unmet needs in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases,” said Amit D. Munshi, president and CEO, Arena Pharmaceuticals. “Pfizer’s capabilities will accelerate our mission to deliver our important medicines to patients. We believe this transaction represents the best next step for both patients and shareholders.”
Apart from etrasimod, Pfizer also gets two still in-progress cardiovascular therapies, Temanogrel and APD418, which will treat complications like microvascular obstruction and acute heart failure respectively.
