(Reuters) -Pfizer Inc said on Thursday that it sold a part of its stake in German drugmaker BioNTech SE, more than five years after both firms formed an alliance that yielded a vaccine to combat the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
A regulatory filing showed that Pfizer cut its stake by 54.7%, leaving the company with approximately 1.66 million sponsored American Depositary Shares of BioNTech, valued at about $163.5 million as of September 30.
This marks a strategic shift after Pfizer and BioNTech began their partnership in 2018, collaborating on the development of mRNA-based influenza vaccines.
A spokesperson for BioNTech said earlier on Thursday, when asked to comment on the stake sale, that its collaboration with Pfizer has not changed.
Their relationship intensified in early 2020 as the COVID pandemic unfolded, when the two companies joined forces to create the world’s first authorized mRNA vaccine for the respiratory disease.
The partnership’s mRNA vaccine, marketed as Comirnaty, generated annual sales of $37.8 billion at its peak in 2022.
The tie-up resulted in Pfizer gaining access to an unprecedented influx of cash to indulge in a deal-making spree. This included large-scale acquisitions such as the $43 billion buyout of cancer drug specialist Seagen, sickle cell disease drugmaker Global Blood Therapeutics, and pain management drugmaker Biohaven.
Pfizer is currently focused on revving up its pipeline as CEO Albert Bourla sets his sights on an extra $20 billion in revenue by 2030 and a looming patent cliff for some of its best-selling drugs that include Ibrance, Xtandi and blood-thinner Eliquis, which it makes with Bristol Myers Squibb.
The stock fell nearly 8% last year, and trades at less than half of the value it had at the peak of the COVID pandemic.
(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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