29th July 2004
December 24, 2003
Pfizer to buy Ann Arbor drug firm
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker, is paying $1.3 billion for a small Ann Arbor-based research firm with the potential to produce the next blockbuster cholesterol drug.
Pfizer said Sunday it will purchase Esperion Therapeutics Inc., a 5-year-old, 70-employee company that recently published promising results of early-stage trials of its experimental treatments.
While Esperion's drugs may take several years to reach the market, they have the potential to help millions of patients who suffer heart disease.
Esperion's potential drugs act by enhancing the body's high-density lipoprotein or HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, so that it reduces the level of plaque that forms in arteries.
The current leading cholesterol drug, Pfizer's product Lipitor, works by reducing low-density lipoprotein or LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, too much of which can lead to plaque buildup.
John LaMattina, president of Pfizer Global Research and Development, called HDL research "the next Holy Grail" of research into cardiovascular disease. He said Pfizer would commit hundreds of millions of dollars to turning Esperion's research into marketable products.
Esperion's products are especially exciting, LaMattina said, because early trials show they are effective at reducing plaque in short-term acute care settings in a hospital, such as after a patient has had a heart attack. Current cholesterol drugs are prescribed on a chronic or long-term basis.
Pfizer's cash purchase translates into $35 per share for Esperion's stock. That represents a 54-percent premium over Esperion's average closing share price during the last 20 trading days. Esperion closed at $22.70 per share Friday.
New York-based Pfizer is a $32-billion-a-year pharmaceutical giant that produces such prescription medicines as erectile dysfunction therapy Viagra, antidepressant Zoloft and pain drug Celebrex. The company also sells over-the-counter remedies including Rolaids, Sudafed and Visine.
Sunday's purchase announcement caps a stunning success story for Esperion. Founded in 1998, Esperion is led by Roger Newton, the company's president and chief executive, who while working at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis (now part of Pfizer) codiscovered atorvastatin, the highly successful multibillion-dollar drug marketed by Pfizer as Lipitor.
In addition to its Ann Arbor headquarters, the company also operates a research center at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
Newton said Sunday that Esperion had been looking for a way to build up its financial muscle to pursue research and development of cholesterol drugs.
"The acquisition will enable us to utilize Pfizer's skills and apply the resources necessary to develop our pipeline of compounds to benefit patients with atherosclerosis," he said. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with the world leader in cardiovascular medicines to develop HDL-focused therapies."
Esperion will continue to operate in Ann Arbor as a division of Pfizer.
"We don't envision any changes to that organization," LaMattina said. "They're doing some great work. They're good people. It's a natural fit for us."
Even before Sunday's announcement, Michigan played a big role in Pfizer. Michigan has more Pfizer employees - about 9,000 - than any other state, including people working in research and development, manufacturing, sales and other areas. Pfizer's largest manufacturing site in the world is in Kalamazoo.
The announcement signals a major step forward for Michigan's hopes to become a center of life-sciences research. Already the state is promoting its Life Sciences Corridor, a wide-ranging effort that includes research by scientists at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids.
The state has committed $1 billion over 20 years from its share of the national tobacco settlement to fund life science initiatives. That places Michigan among the national leaders in funding such research.
Just this fall, researchers began moving into U-M's new Life Sciences Institute in Ann Arbor. When other efforts are completed and operational in 2008, U-M's commitment to integrated life sciences research will total more than $900 million in buildings and programs.
"There's the potential for the biotech industry to grow and thrive here," Newton said.
The success of Esperion, he added, "serves as a wonderful example of how if you have a dream and a vision of how you can take basic science and find the application to treat human disease, you can indeed see that into a reality."
Pfizer's pursuit of Esperion began last month, when the smaller company published its results of clinical trials in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results of the Esperion compound known as ETC-216 were so stunning that a number of firms began to pursue Esperion.
Newton said he and his aides had promised their board of directors to find a major new source of research funding by the end of the year. The talks with Pfizer intensified over the past 10 days.
Newton said he will be staying with the company under Pfizer, adding, "I like to finish what I start."
Pfizer to buy Ann Arbor drug firm
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker, is paying $1.3 billion for a small Ann Arbor-based research firm with the potential to produce the next blockbuster cholesterol drug.
Pfizer said Sunday it will purchase Esperion Therapeutics Inc., a 5-year-old, 70-employee company that recently published promising results of early-stage trials of its experimental treatments.
While Esperion's drugs may take several years to reach the market, they have the potential to help millions of patients who suffer heart disease.
Esperion's potential drugs act by enhancing the body's high-density lipoprotein or HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, so that it reduces the level of plaque that forms in arteries.
The current leading cholesterol drug, Pfizer's product Lipitor, works by reducing low-density lipoprotein or LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, too much of which can lead to plaque buildup.
John LaMattina, president of Pfizer Global Research and Development, called HDL research "the next Holy Grail" of research into cardiovascular disease. He said Pfizer would commit hundreds of millions of dollars to turning Esperion's research into marketable products.
Esperion's products are especially exciting, LaMattina said, because early trials show they are effective at reducing plaque in short-term acute care settings in a hospital, such as after a patient has had a heart attack. Current cholesterol drugs are prescribed on a chronic or long-term basis.
Pfizer's cash purchase translates into $35 per share for Esperion's stock. That represents a 54-percent premium over Esperion's average closing share price during the last 20 trading days. Esperion closed at $22.70 per share Friday.
New York-based Pfizer is a $32-billion-a-year pharmaceutical giant that produces such prescription medicines as erectile dysfunction therapy Viagra, antidepressant Zoloft and pain drug Celebrex. The company also sells over-the-counter remedies including Rolaids, Sudafed and Visine.
Sunday's purchase announcement caps a stunning success story for Esperion. Founded in 1998, Esperion is led by Roger Newton, the company's president and chief executive, who while working at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis (now part of Pfizer) codiscovered atorvastatin, the highly successful multibillion-dollar drug marketed by Pfizer as Lipitor.
In addition to its Ann Arbor headquarters, the company also operates a research center at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
Newton said Sunday that Esperion had been looking for a way to build up its financial muscle to pursue research and development of cholesterol drugs.
"The acquisition will enable us to utilize Pfizer's skills and apply the resources necessary to develop our pipeline of compounds to benefit patients with atherosclerosis," he said. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with the world leader in cardiovascular medicines to develop HDL-focused therapies."
Esperion will continue to operate in Ann Arbor as a division of Pfizer.
"We don't envision any changes to that organization," LaMattina said. "They're doing some great work. They're good people. It's a natural fit for us."
Even before Sunday's announcement, Michigan played a big role in Pfizer. Michigan has more Pfizer employees - about 9,000 - than any other state, including people working in research and development, manufacturing, sales and other areas. Pfizer's largest manufacturing site in the world is in Kalamazoo.
The announcement signals a major step forward for Michigan's hopes to become a center of life-sciences research. Already the state is promoting its Life Sciences Corridor, a wide-ranging effort that includes research by scientists at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids.
The state has committed $1 billion over 20 years from its share of the national tobacco settlement to fund life science initiatives. That places Michigan among the national leaders in funding such research.
Just this fall, researchers began moving into U-M's new Life Sciences Institute in Ann Arbor. When other efforts are completed and operational in 2008, U-M's commitment to integrated life sciences research will total more than $900 million in buildings and programs.
"There's the potential for the biotech industry to grow and thrive here," Newton said.
The success of Esperion, he added, "serves as a wonderful example of how if you have a dream and a vision of how you can take basic science and find the application to treat human disease, you can indeed see that into a reality."
Pfizer's pursuit of Esperion began last month, when the smaller company published its results of clinical trials in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results of the Esperion compound known as ETC-216 were so stunning that a number of firms began to pursue Esperion.
Newton said he and his aides had promised their board of directors to find a major new source of research funding by the end of the year. The talks with Pfizer intensified over the past 10 days.
Newton said he will be staying with the company under Pfizer, adding, "I like to finish what I start."