Fight against sickle cell disease: Pfizer acquires the Global Blood Therapeutics group
In the US, Pfizer (pictured) is buying Global Blood Therapeutics, the maker of a recently approved sickle cell drug.
AP - Stew Milne
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In the United States, Pfizer acquires the Global Blood Therapeutics group, the maker of a recently approved drug against sickle cell disease.
This genetic disease causes painful crises, with the risk of serious complications.
Pfizer has already announced that it wants to accelerate distribution in Africa, where the disease is very present.
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Thanks to its exceptional sales of vaccines and its treatment against the coronavirus, Pfizer will therefore get its hands on Global Blood Therapeutic (GBT) for 5.4 billion dollars.
The laboratory will finance this acquisition with the money it has, by buying back all of GBT's shares for around 68 dollars per share, the group said in a press release.
This is double its value, estimated by the Bloomberg agency last week when this purchase project was mentioned.
The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, which must now obtain the approval of the regulatory authorities and the shareholders of GBT.
The company is the maker of Oxbryta, a recently approved sickle cell disease drug
Accelerate distribution
This new sickle cell drug is already licensed in the United States.
It is also within the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Great Britain.
With this acquisition, Pfizer wants to accelerate the distribution of the innovative treatment of GBT in the regions of the world most affected by sickle cell disease, mainly Africa and India.
In Congo-Brazzaville, 24,000 patients are affected according to estimates by the National Reference Center for Sickle Cell Disease.
Professor Alexis Elira-Dokekias is the director.
He welcomes rather positively the idea of a deployment of this drug, on two conditions: that its effectiveness is approved and that its cost is attractive.
He warns, on the continent, sickle cell disease is above all a disease of poverty: “
Africa is the main primitive focus, and the problem that is insured behind this genetic disease which are diseases with long-term blood tests, c It's the fight against poverty, because you understand, in countries that have the means, patients have social security which allows easy access to care.
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Severe forms of the disease are sometimes revealed late
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With us
, he continues,
the problem is that the severe forms of the disease are sometimes revealed late because people come to consult at a late stage.
The parents did not have the right information which was not communicated correctly, the symptoms of illness are sometimes interpreted as symptoms of witchcraft where people because of poverty cannot come to the health centers, they go to churches where certain divergent messages are given regarding the disease, despite official information, that's what complicates treatment.
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►Also read
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