After getting its Covid-19 vaccine to market in record time, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is back on the acquisition trail. The pharmaceutical giant has purchased Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Amplyx Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held company dedicated to the development of therapies for debilitating and life-threatening diseases that affect people with compromised immune systems. Amplyx’s lead compound, Fosmanogepix (APX001), is a novel investigational asset under development for the treatment of invasive fungal infections.
In addition to Fosmanogepix, with this acquisition, Pfizer has secured ownership of Amplyx’s early-stage pipeline that includes potential antiviral and antifungal therapies. The acquisition of Amplyx follows an initial equity investment by Pfizer in December 2019 as part of Amplyx’s Series C financing, which also included investors such as 3×5 Partners, Adage Capital Management, Arix Bioscience, BioMed Ventures, Lundbeckfonden Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Pappas Capital, RiverVest Venture Partners, and Sofinnov.
DLA Piper LLP (US) served as Pfizer Inc.’s legal advisor for the transaction, while Cooley LLP served as Amplyx’s legal advisor and Evercore as its financial advisor.
Pfizer announced just two, small deals in 2020, according to search results in our Healthcare Deals Database. In October, the company bought Arixa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which develops next-generation oral antibiotics for drug-resistant Gram-negative infections, and in April Pfizer paid $130 million upfront to Valneva SE in an agreement to develop and commercialize Valneva’s Lyme disease vaccine candidate.
However, in 2019, Pfizer announced an $11.4 billion acquisition of Array BioPharma Inc., commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted small molecule drugs. Pfizer wanted access to Array’s product pipeline, which now included Braftovi (encorafenib) and Mektovi (binimetinib) for the treatment of two mutant unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This deal closed in July 2019.
