1. Scrip
  2. >>Business
  3. >>Stock Watch

Stock Watch: One Acquisition Does Not Make A Biotech M&A Boom

Pfizer’s Pandemic Success Finally Prompts A Transaction

 
• By Andy Smith

Another blow-out quarter from Pfizer provided the impetus for an acquisition. But the history of recent commercial-stage biotech transactions and the risky nature of all early-stage companies suggest that the floodgates will not burst open.

Stock Watch Image, Andy Smith
ANDY SMITH OFFERS A LIFE SCIENCE INVESTOR'S PERSPECTIVE ON BIOPHARMA BUSINES

Despite being the poster child for pharmaceutical companies addressing the pandemic, Pfizer Inc.* saw its stock price lag the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index (DRG) for the first part of 2021 until its investors could see proof of the sales of its vaccine to prevent COVID-19, Comirnaty. (Also see "Stock Watch: Pfizer Caught Between The Pandemic And The Recovery" - Scrip, 14 February, 2022.) Only after its first quarter of 2021 announcement did Pfizer’s stock price start its rise. It then climbed by about 65% over the year as first Comirnaty sales and then those of its antiviral Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir), for the treatment of COVID-19, became incorporated into its investment proposition.

The first quarter of 2022 must have felt like déjà vu as Pfizer’s stock price traded down from the start...

Welcome to Scrip

Create an account to read this article

Already a subscriber?

More from Stock Watch

Stock Watch: Sanofi And Merck Temper Big Pharma Q2 Earnings Cheer

 
• By Andy Smith

The investor enthusiasm that greeted initial second-quarter pharma earnings announcements was dampened by the results from Sanofi and Merck & Co. Sanofi was particularly punished by investors despite overall growth, while Merck’s revenue fall was probably baked into expectations.

Stock Watch: Q2 Earnings Blowouts Resume At AstraZeneca And GSK

 
• By Andy Smith

While second-quarter revenue growth bolstered both the UK’s big pharma companies, some of that growth may have been catch-up from the weak first quarter. This resulted in sales of even seasonally weak off-patent products, growing.

Stock Watch: Q2 Sales Growth Sparks Diverging Reactions To J&J And Novartis

 
• By Andy Smith

With drug sector indexes underperforming the broad market in the first half of 2025, investors may have been anticipating tariff-related and other headwinds. But impending loss of exclusivity on key products may be provoking more anxiety at this point.

Stock Watch: Pharma Financial Forecasts Cannot Withstand Headwinds Forever

 
• By Andy Smith

Pharma company financial guidance emerged largely unscathed from a first quarter punctured by a weakening US dollar and threats of import tariffs on drugs. With other pressures either already evident or on the horizon, guidance revisions may be unavoidable.

More from Business

Asia Deal Watch: Lupin Picks Sandoz To Market Lucentis Biosimilar In Parts Of EU And Asia

 
• By Joseph Haas, Sushmita Panda, Xu Hu, Vibha Ravi, and Manas Mishra

Also deals involving Xspray/Handa, Fosun/Expedition, Kaken/Astria, Orchid/Allecra, Sanofi/Visirna, KKR/Healthcare Royalty Partners, Viridian/Kissei, Sandoz/Evotec, Dx&Vx, Dr. Falk/Allianthera, Madrigal/CSPC and Lilly/LTZ.

PureTech’s New Spin-Off Wants Partners For Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

Deupirfenidone hit its Phase II endpoint but the program remains risky and PureTech’s new Celea Therapeutics will aim to pull in extra funding for its late-stage development.

Stock Watch: Sanofi And Merck Temper Big Pharma Q2 Earnings Cheer

 
• By Andy Smith

The investor enthusiasm that greeted initial second-quarter pharma earnings announcements was dampened by the results from Sanofi and Merck & Co. Sanofi was particularly punished by investors despite overall growth, while Merck’s revenue fall was probably baked into expectations.