Seagen's stock surges almost 11% after a report that Pfizer is in talks to buy the cancer-focused biotech

• Pfizer is in early talks to acquire cancer-focused biotech Seagen, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• Seagen shares surged almost 11%, while Pfizer's slipped on Monday after the report.

Drug giant Pfizer is in early talks to buy cancer-focused biotech Seagen in what could be a multibillion-dollar deal, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Seagen's shares surged as much as 10.9% to $178.93 at last check on Monday after the WSJ report, which cited people familiar with the matter. Pfizer shares edged 1.5% lower to $41.14.

The potential deal would likely call for Pfizer to pay a premium on Seagen's market value of around $30 billion. But it would face a series of hurdles before it can go through, not least a stringent antitrust clearance by regulators.

Last year, Seagen was in advanced talks to be bought by German pharmaceutical giant Merck in a deal $40 billion or more. But the deal fell through when the two sides failed to reach an agreement, and Seagen's shares have dropped almost 10% since reports of the Merck talks first emerged in July.

The transaction would help Pfizer boost its lineup of cancer treatments and help fill a gap left when several of its patents expire at the end of the decade. The drug giant has said it expects to lose $17 billion in sales from the expirations.

Pfizer, which booked $100 billion in revenue in 2022, aims to add $25 billion in sales in 2023 via acquisitions and other moves to develop its business. It has a hefty cash pile after pulling in $22.7 billion from sales of vaccines during the pandemic, per the WSJ.

Pfizer said it wasn't company policy to comment on market speculation when approached by Insider. Seagen did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.