Pfizer buys Seagen for $43B, boosts access to cancer drugs

Pfizer is spending about $43 billion to reach deeper into new cancer treatments that target tumor cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.

The pharmaceutical giant said Monday it will pay $229 in cash for each share of Seagen Inc. Pfizer then plans to let the biotech drug developer “continue innovating,” except with more resources than it would have alone, Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla told analysts.

“We are not buying the golden eggs,” he said. “We are acquiring the goose that is laying the golden eggs.”

Bothell, Washington-based Seagen Inc. specializes in working with antibody-drug conjugate, or ADC, technology. Its key products use lab-made proteins called monoclonal antibodies that seek out cancer cells to help deliver a cancer-killing drug while sparing surrounding tissue.