Pfizer spends $635 million on acquiring two Baxter vaccines

US pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Baxter International (NYSE: BAX) portfolio of marketed vaccines for $635 million. As part of the transaction, Pfizer will also acquire a portion of Baxter’s facility in Orth, Austria, where these vaccines are manufactured.

Baxter’s portfolio of marketed vaccines consists of NeisVac-C and FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac. NeisVac-C is a vaccine that helps protect against meningitis caused by group C meningococcal meningitis (MenC). This serious infection of the membrane covering the brain may be fatal in roughly 10%-15% of patients and 30% to more than 50% of survivors may suffer from severe physical, social and mental damage. MenC is one of the most prevalent meningococcal serogroups in many parts of the world and vaccination with NeisVac-C has been shown to be highly effective.

FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac is a vaccine that helps protect against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), an infection of the brain, which is transmitted by the bite of ticks infected with the TBE-virus. Every year, the TBE virus causes thousands of cases of neuroinvasive illness in humans across Europe and Asia and is a growing public health concern in Europe and other parts of the world. FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac is approved in 30 countries and has been marketed for over 30 years with approximately 120 million doses produced since 1976.