Pfizer is set to acquire sickle disease drug maker Global Blood Therapeutics in a $5.4 billion deal, a statement read on the Pfizer website on Monday. 

"We are excited to welcome GBT colleagues into Pfizer and to work together to transform the lives of patients, as we have long sought to address the needs of this underserved community," Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

Net sales for Oxbryta, the prescription medicine developed by GBT and used for the treatment of sickle cell disease in adults and children, were approximately $195 million in 2021. It is expected that the acquisition of GBT and its suite of SCD treatments have the potential to generate more than $3 billion in global sales.

“The deep market knowledge and scientific and clinical capabilities we have built over three decades in rare hematology will enable us to accelerate innovation for the sickle cell disease community and bring these treatments to patients as quickly as possible,” said Bourla in his statement. 

Sales of Oxbryta helped the laboratory generate first-quarter turnover of $55 million (up 41 percent), while the company registered a net loss of $81.4 million.

GBT, which is based in San Francisco, California, is to publish its second-quarter numbers on Monday.

Pfizer, for its part, saw its second-quarter turnover jump by 47 percent -- to a record $27.74 billion -- boosted by sales of its Covid vaccine and pills. Its net profit soared by 78 percent, to $9.9 billion.

GBT shares on the New York Stock Exchange were up 33.03 percent at the close on Friday, at $63.84, for a market capitalization of more than $4 billion, whereas Pfizer shares slipped by 1.18 percent, to $49.27.

It is likely that this deal is intended to bolster Pfizer's supply to combat the potential slowdown in demand related to COVID-19 that analysts predict due to the drop in new cases.

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