NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Pfizer Inc. announced Wednesday it will acquire part of AstraZeneca PLC's antibiotics business for $1.6 billion plus royalties.
The deal involves three approved antibiotics -- Zavicefta, Merem/Meronem and Zinforo -- and two drugs now in clinical trials.
The deal gives Pfizer the opportunity to sell the pharmaceuticals in most markets outside the United States and Canada, as well as Merem in North America.
Pfizer, headquartered in New York, said the acquisition of the new drugs would bolster its "essential health" business, which markets older drugs, including those whose patents have expired. The deal does not include the biological anti-infectives of AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, England, or its business focusing on early-stage antibiotics. Pfizer is one of several pharmaceutical companies that has reduced its interest in antibiotic research in recent years because of perceived likelihood of a low return on investment.
Announcement of the deal comes days after Pfizer acquired Medivation, a San Francisco-based business specializing in prostate cancer drugs.
