Pfizer boosts biotech line with CovX buy

With the aim of expanding its biotechnology pipeline, global pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer has entered into an agreement to acquire CovX, a privately-held biotherapeutics company specializing in preclinical oncology and metabolic research and a developer of a biotherapeutics technology platform. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The acquisition of CovX is a further step in Pfizer's strategy to acquire and identify new product candidates that we can put into development, leveraging both Pfizer's expertise and that of world-class scientists charged with discovering and bringing in new compounds," said Jeffrey Kindler, chief executive of the drug giant. "With this deal, we are building on our recent announcement of a new Biotherapeutic and Bioinnovation Center based in California and led by Dr Corey Goodman (Marketletter October 15). We are looking for the best science wherever we can find it, with a special focus in our priority areas, such as biotherapeutics," he noted.

CovX' biotherapeutic platform is a technology that links therapeutic peptides to an antibody "scaffold." The peptide targets the disease while the antibody scaffold lets the peptide remain in the body long enough to achieve therapeutic benefit. The technology thereby allows half-life extension and bioavailability to support optimal dosing regimens for peptide therapeutics. The company has generated three early-stage compounds, one for diabetes and two oncology agents, that are expected to further strengthen Pfizer's biologic pipeline portfolio. Based in La Jolla, California, CovX will operate as a division of Pfizer's new bioinnovation center.