NEW YORK – The European Commission on Thursday said it has unconditionally approved Pfizer's plans to acquire Seagen after determining that the deal meets EU Merger Regulation laws and doesn't raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Earlier this year, Pfizer announced its intent to acquire Seagen in a deal worth $43 billion. The move will add several oncology assets to Pfizer's pipeline, including Seagen's anti-HER2 therapy Tukysa (tucatinib).
In the EEA, the companies both sell drugs for various solid tumor and hematological cancers, and the EC investigated whether Pfizer's purchase of Seagen would reduce competition in disease markets where their activities appear to overlap. The EC found that the transaction wouldn't diminish innovation or discontinue, delay, or reorient pipeline projects because the companies are developing drugs that differ in indication and mode of action.
"Moreover, the commission found that the transaction was unlikely to have [a] negative impact on prices, given that the parties' offerings are differentiated and complementary and that the markets for the treatment of the various cancer types examined are sufficiently competitive," the EC said in a statement.
The companies expect to close the deal later this year or early next year. Once complete, Pfizer will gain Tukysa and about a dozen other marketed and investigational Seagen oncology assets.
Seagen's commercialized products include Tukysa, a treatment for advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer and for RAS wild-type, HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer; Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) for adult and pediatric Hodgkin lymphomas and for anaplastic large cell lymphoma or other CD30-expressing peripheral T-cell lymphomas; Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) for advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer; and Tivdak (tisotumab vedotin-tftv) for recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer.
Pfizer has said that it expects this acquisition will bring in more than $10 billion in risk-adjusted revenues by 2030.