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NEW YORK (AP) — Pfizer will buy two meningitis vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline in a deal that the U.S. drugmaker valued at about $130 million.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC was required to sell the vaccines, called Nimenrix and Mencevax, as part of a larger deal where it bought the vaccine business of Swiss drugmaker Novartis. The company said Monday that the two drugs brought it 34 million euros ($39 million) in revenue in 2014.
Pfizer Inc. said it expects to complete its purchase before the end of 2015 and said the deal won't have a major effect on its business this year. Both Nimenrix and Mencevax are designed to prevent four strains of meningitis, an infection of the brain and spinal cord. Neither drug is approved in the U.S.
Pfizer had $49.61 billion in revenue in 2014, including $4.48 billion in revenue from its vaccine business. It gained two meningitis vaccines last year: U.S. regulators approved its drug Trumenba in October and it acquired NeisVac-C from Baxter International Inc. in December.
As part of a complicated deal that closed in March, GlaxoSmithKline bought most of Novartis AG's vaccines business and Novartis bought GlaxoSmithKline's cancer drug business. Novartis agreed to pay $14.5 billion for the cancer drugs and GlaxoSmithKline will pay at least $5.25 billion for the vaccines, and both companies could make further payments based on sales. GlaxoSmithKline acquired the meningitis vaccines Menveo and Bexsero in the deal, so regulators ordered the company to sell its own meningitis drugs to preserve competition in the marketplace.
Shares of Pfizer rose 29 cents to $34.47 in midday trading and U.S.-traded shares of GlaxoSmithKline picked up 46 cents to $43.52.
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