Pfizer announced to acquire Hospira for 17 billion US dollar

Pfizer on 6 February 2015 announced to acquire Hospira for 17 billion US dollar. Hospira Inc is a provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies.

The acquisition of the British drug maker Hospira would be the largest ever so-called inversion.

The deal is the land of opportunity as the deal would push emerging market for biosimilars. Biosimilars are generic drugs seeking to copy expensive and more complex drugs called biologics that until now have largely been immune from competition in the United States.

Biologic drugs, which are made in living cells, cannot be precisely copied, which is why the new class of drugs are referred to as biosimilars and not merely generics.

Although biosimilars have been available elsewhere for years, including in Europe, where Hospira sells some products, they have not arrived on the market in the United States because the Food and Drug Administration has not approved any.

That is most likely about to change, an advisory panel to the F.D.A. recommended approval of a close copy of the Amgen drug Neupogen, which is used in cancer treatment. If the agency approves the biosimilar, which is made by Sandoz, a unit of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, it could pave the way for more such drugs to enter the marketplace.

Several large drug companies including Amgen, Teva and Hospira have been developing biosimilars in anticipation of their approval in the United States.

Pfizer is wading deeper into a market that is seen as potentially lucrative because biosimilars, while offered at a discount from the expensive drugs they are mimicking, are expected to sell for higher prices than their traditional generic cousins.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City. Pfizer develops and produces medicines and vaccines for a wide range of medical disciplines, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, diabetology/endocrinology, and neurology.

Pfizer's products include the blockbuster drug Lipitor, used to lower LDL blood cholesterol; Lyrica, Diflucan, Zithromax (azithromycin), an antibiotic; Viagra (sildenafil, for erectile dysfunction); and Celebrex/Celebra (celecoxib), an anti-inflammatory drug.