Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

Pfizer Inc. / Esperion Therapeutics Inc.

2003 · Acquisition/Merger · $1.3B · Complete

WRONG BY 51 POINTS

Pfizer's $1.3B HDL bet collapsed with torcetrapib's fatal Phase III failure; Esperion was sold back for near-nothing in 2008.

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The coverage arc

Dec 21, 2003 CNN/Reuters Bullish

Pfizer agreed to acquire Esperion for $1.3B at $35/share - 54% premium. Mark Monane (Needham & Co.) said 'this acquisition fits Pfizer like a glove' citing…

Apr 29, 2008 CBS News Bearish

Pfizer discontinued all Esperion drugs after torcetrapib's late-2006 failure caused exit from cardiovascular development. Newton repurchased rights to relaunch…

Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.

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Pfizer agreed to acquire Esperion Therapeutics for ~$1.3B ($35/share, a 54% premium) to add the HDL/cardiovascular asset ETC-216; announced Dec 21, 2003 and closed Feb 10, 2004.

Did it work? Outcome assessment

Pfizer's $1.3B HDL bet collapsed with torcetrapib's fatal Phase III failure; Esperion was sold back for near-nothing in 2008.

Strategic verdict
Failed to Achieve

Key facts

Related deals — scored

DealYearValueOutcome
Pfizer Inc. / Esperion Therapeutics Inc. (this deal)2003$1.3B12
Pfizer Inc. / BioNTech SE2020$748M100
Pfizer Inc. / FoldRx Pharmaceuticals201099
Pfizer Inc. / Medivation Inc.2016$14.0B86
Pfizer Inc. / Wyeth2009$68.0B86
Pfizer Inc. / Warner-Lambert Company2000$90.0B83
Pfizer Inc. / Arvinas, Inc.2021$2.4B77

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