Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

Pfizer Inc. / Myovant Sciences Ltd.

2020 · Co-Development · $4.2B · Complete

Pfizer's $650M upfront (up to $4.2B) for Orgovyx co-commercialization survived Myovant's own 2023 buyout by Sumitovant intact, backed by a trial showing a 54% cut in major adverse cardiovascular events versus leuprolide.

Outcome grade pending — assessed 5 years post-close.

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The coverage arc

Jun 04, 2020 New England Journal of Medicine — HERO trial Bullish

In this Phase 3 trial of 934 men with advanced prostate cancer, oral relugolix achieved sustained testosterone suppression in 96.7% of men compared with…

Dec 28, 2020 Fierce Pharma Bullish

Pfizer is paying Myovant $650 million up front to co-commercialize the oral prostate cancer drug Orgovyx in the U.S. and Canada. The deal builds on Pfizer's…

Oct 23, 2022 Sumitovant/Sumitomo Pharma/Myovant Definitive Agreement Neutral

Sumitovant to acquire all outstanding Myovant shares not already owned for $27.00/share cash ($1.7B; ~$2.9B total company value); Myovant to become a wholly…

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Myovant and Pfizer announced a US/Canada collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize Orgovyx (relugolix) in advanced prostate cancer and relugolix combination tablet in women's health. Myovant received $650M upfront plus $200M regulatory milestones for relugolix combo tablet women's health approvals and tiered sales milestones up to $3.5B+, total deal up to $4.2B. Profits and certain expenses split 50/50 with Myovant booking revenue. Post-close development: in October 2022 Sumitovant Biopharma (Sumitomo Pharma group), which already held a majority stake, agreed to acquire the remaining Myovant shares at $27.00/share ($1.7B; ~$2.9B total company value); the deal completed March 10, 2023, making Myovant a wholly owned Sumitovant subsidiary and delisting it from the NYSE. The Pfizer collaboration was not terminated and continues under Myovant as a Sumitomo subsidiary.

Did it work? Outcome assessment

Strategic verdict
Partially Achieved
Financial impact
Neutral
Pfizer paid $650M upfront against an up-to-$4.2B headline (incl. up to $2.5B sales milestones). Relugolix products generated only modest sales vs. the headline, and Pfizer wound down its role rather than scaling it; co-promotion was terminated in Canada effective Dec 31, 2024, with Sumitomo Pharma America taking independent U.S. commercialization.
Pipeline outcome
Assets Advanced
Orgovyx (relugolix monotherapy) won FDA approval for advanced prostate cancer Dec 18, 2020; Myfembree (relugolix combo) was approved May 2021 for heavy menstrual bleeding from uterine fibroids and later for endometriosis-associated pain. Both reached market but at sub-blockbuster volumes.

Key facts

Disease & market context

Advanced prostate cancer (Orgovyx / relugolix)

249K US cases/yr · $9.5B US prostate cancer drug market 2020 (USD MM) · 34130 US prostate cancer deaths annually 2021

Disease Overview

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin malignancy in US men, with the American Cancer Society projecting 248,530 new cases and 34,130 deaths in 2021. Approximately 8-10% of men present with metastatic disease at diagnosis (~20,000-25,000 incident metastatic cases annually) and an additional 30-40% of localized patients eventually progress to advanced disease, producing a prevalent advanced prostate cancer population in the US of roughly 200,000-300,000 men receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) at any time. ADT — through medical castration via GnRH agonists or antagonists, or surgical orchiectomy — has been the foundation of advanced disease management for over 80 years, beginning with leuprolide (Lupron) in 1985. Cardiovascular events are a leading cause of non-cancer mortality in this population (≈30% of deaths), and the meta-analysis of relugolix's HERO Phase 3 trial (NEJM 2020) demonstrated a 54% lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events versus leuprolide. Relugolix received FDA approval as Orgovyx on December 18, 2020 (10 days before the Pfizer deal), making it the first and only oral GnRH antagonist for advanced prostate cancer.

Competitive Landscape

The advanced prostate cancer ADT and intensification market at deal date (Dec 2020) was crowded with established and emerging modalities. Injectable GnRH agonists dominated foundational ADT — AbbVie's Lupron Depot (leuprolide acetate, $720M US 2020), TerSera/AstraZeneca's Zoladex (goserelin), Tolmar's Eligard (leuprolide), and Ferring's Firmagon (degarelix, the only injectable GnRH antagonist) — collectively a ~$2B+ US market. Orgovyx's oral once-daily mechanism and superior cardiovascular profile positioned it as a potential ADT category disruptor. Layered on top of ADT backbone in mCRPC and mHSPC: AR-targeted oral agents Xtandi (enzalutamide, Astellas/Pfizer; $4.9B global 2020), Zytiga (abiraterone, J&J; $2.5B global 2020 pre-generic), Erleada (apalutamide, J&J; $719M 2020), Nubeqa (darolutamide, Bayer/Orion; $58M 2020 launch). PARP inhibitors entered space mid-2020: Lynparza (olaparib, AstraZeneca/Merck) approved May 2020 for HRR-mutated mCRPC, and Rubraca (rucaparib, Clovis) approved May 2020. Radiopharmaceuticals: Pluvicto (Lu-177-PSMA-617, Novartis) Phase 3 VISION readout pending, Xofigo (radium-223). Chemotherapy: docetaxel (generic), Jevtana (cabazitaxel, Sanofi). The Pfizer-Myovant deal positioned Pfizer to leverage its Xtandi commercial infrastructure to drive Orgovyx as the new ADT standard while accessing the relugolix combo tablet for women's health (uterine fibroids approved May 2021, endometriosis Aug 2022).

Related deals — scored

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Pfizer Inc. / Myovant Sciences Ltd. (this deal)2020$4.2B
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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