AbbVie’s $8.7 billion deal for Cerevel has led to a significant payout for Pfizer.
Pfizer created Cerevel with Bain Capital in 2018, spinning out several neuroscience assets into the new company. It has held onto a stake in the company since then, and the deal’s close on Aug. 1 has led to a $1.2 billion payout to Pfizer, the drugmaker said in a securities filing.
The deal could bring future payouts to Pfizer, as well. It still holds rights to milestone payments and any sales royalties on Cerevel’s pipeline, and AbbVie has touted the blockbuster potential of its pipeline, according to the filing. It has mid and late-stage programs for schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, epilepsy and other disorders.
Pfizer’s divestitures have the dubious honor of turning into some of the industry’s bigger recent deals. In addition to Cerevel’s success with the assets, Pfizer notably partnered with Roivant to place a TL1A drug that no longer had a place in its pipeline, taking an equity stake in the new company. That led to a $7.1 deal in which Roche bought the newly formed company, Telavant, a few months later.
More pipeline changes are almost certain to come at Pfizer. Longtime R&D chief Mikael Dolsten is stepping down after 15 years at the company, and the drugmaker is looking externally for a new science leader who is certain to bring a new perspective to its research programs.