Fresenius, Smiths in the hunt for Pfizer’s $1.5B infusion pump biz

Germany’s Fresenius (NYSE:FMS) and Britain’s Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) have emerged as the final bidders for Pfizer‘s (NYSE:PFE) infusion pump business, inherited via the Big Pharma’s September 2015 purchase of Hospira for $15 billion. The winning bid is expected to be around $1.5 billion, according to Reuters. Private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management was also interested and reportedly made a 2nd-round bid in April, when the estimated price tag for unit was $2 billion, according to Bloomberg. During the 1st 3 quarters of 2014, Hospira’s medication management unit, including intravenous drug-delivering infusion pumps and related services, accounted for $3.3 billion in net sales, or 19% of the company’s total. Pfizer, which acquired Hospira to increase its presence in the nascent market for biosimilar drugs, had initially planned to keep the device unit before a series of setbacks caused it to change its mind. “We believe that Hospira has a leading pumps and consumables business, which differentiates them from the competition, which will provide Pfizer with novel capabilities in an adjacent area and a new source of revenue growth,” Pfizer group president of established pharma, John Young, said last year when the deal was announced. But last August the FDA told hospitals to stop using the company’s Symbiq infusion system, marking the 1st time the agency encouraged the transition away from a medical device due to poor cybersecurit...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Drug Pumps Mergers & Acquisitions Wall Street Beat Fresenius Medical Care Hospira Inc. Pfizer Inc. Smiths Group plc Source Type: news