Pfizer Completes Acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer announced on Oct. 3, 2022 that it has completed its acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, the maker of NURTEC ODT (rimegepant), a migraine therapy approved for both acute treatment and prevention of episodic migraine in adults.

The acquisition adds a calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) portfolio to Pfizer, including rimegepant, zavegepant, and a portfolio of pre-clinical CGRP assets. Pfizer has acquired all outstanding shares of Biohaven not already owned by Pfizer for $149.50 per share, for a total cost of approximately $11.6 billion. Biohaven is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer.

Immediately prior to the closing of the acquisition Biohaven completed the spin-off of a new Biohaven company that retained the company’s non-CGRP development stage pipeline compounds, Kv7 ion channel activators, glutamate modulation, myostatin inhibition platforms, preclinical product candidates, and certain corporate infrastructure assets excluded from the Pfizer acquisition. Pfizer owns approximately 3% of the new Biohaven company.

"We are proud to build on Pfizer’s legacy of delivering breakthrough medicines for patients living with complex pain disorders,” said Aamir Malik, executive vice-president, chief business innovation officer, Pfizer, in a company press release. “The success of NURTEC ODT coupled with Biohaven’s CGRP pipeline will strengthen Pfizer’s innovative Internal Medicine pipeline through 2030, and beyond. Combined with Pfizer’s global reach, this acquisition increases our potential to bring new treatment options to patients with migraine – a disease which affects over 1 billion people worldwide.”

Source: Pfizer