Pfizer’s plan to acquire GBT for $5.4B hits legal road bump

In early August, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced its intent to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics (Nasdaq:GBT) for $68.50 per share, or approximately $5.4 billion.

Now, however, investors are pushing back, alleging that GBT executives made incomplete and misleading statements to win shareholder approval for the prospective deal.

In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, plaintiff and shareholder Richard Lawrence requested that the court temporarily block an investor vote on the proposed merger scheduled for September 30.

Lawrence claims in the complaint that GBT shared a “materially incomplete and misleading” Schedule 14A definitive proxy statement with the SEC pertaining to the company’s financial projections and financial analyses.

The plaintiff is asking for a jury trial.

GBT is the developer of Oxbryta (voxelotor), a sickle hemoglobin inhibitor that won FDA approval in November 2019. GBT’s lead produ…

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Pfizer to scoop up Global Blood Therapeutics for $5.4 billion 

After a banner year in 2021, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is on a spending spree. The company plans to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT) (Nasdaq:GBT) for $68.50 per share. The total sale price of acquisition, if it moves forward, would be roughly $5.4 billion.

Global Blood Therapeutics’s therapeutic focus is primarily on sickle cell disease.

In March, Pfizer finalized the $6.7 billion acquisition of Arena Pharmaceuticals. The company announced in May that it planned to acquire migraine drugmaker Biohaven Pharmaceuticals for $11.6 billion.

Pfizer completed the acquisition of privately-held ReViral in June.

The centerpiece of the acquisition

GBT has developed Oxbryta (voxelotor), a novel sickle hemoglobin inhibitor that won FDA approval in November 2019. In addition, the drug has scored approval in the European Union, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Great Britain.

Voxelotor binds to hemoglobin and stabilizes red-blood cells in an oxygenated state.<…

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