Pfizer withdrawal raises business development questions, says Barclays

Barclays analyst Carter Gould keeps an Equal Weight rating on Pfizer with a $32 price target after the company announced the voluntary withdrawal of sickle-cell therapy Oxbryta globally, citing an updated view that the totality of data suggests a more negative risk-benefit profile. The move likely implies an imbalance in vaso-occlusive crises and/or fatal events to warrant the quick action, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the decision comes just shy of the two-year mark from Pfizer’s $5.4B acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics to obtain Oxbryta and a follow-on sickle cell pipeline. The withdrawal will again raise questions on Pfizer’s business development effort, contends Barclays. The withdrawal “adds a new example to old critiques,” the firm writes.