Average cost to bring drug candidate to market = US$2.3 Bln According to Deloitte's recent report the average cost for Big Pharma to bring a drug to market for one indication was US$2.3 Billion in 2022 - up $298 Million from 2021 - but down from 2019 and 2020 - due to Covid-19 .
With 3 indications (pancreatic, breast and colorectal cancer) potentially approaching registration, and ONCY's $500 Million in transferable R&D expenses, ONCY's acquisition valuation falls within Big Pharma's M&A "sweet spot" of US$5 to US$15 Billion.
And since Pfizer's intent to acquire Seagen remains unresolved due to the same US government's competition regulations that precluded Merck's (MSD) earlier attempt to acquire Seagen last year, Pfizer would not be able to close the acquisition until 2024 if allowed to proceed. And because of this Pfizer will be looking to a "bolt-on" acquistion in 2023, that would not undergo government competition scrutiny as would be happening with Seagen, and that would fall with the above M&A "sweet spot" that an acquisition of ONCY would provide.
So along with other Big Pharma companies, Pfizer remains a significant acquirer of ONCY, particularly because of ONCY's synergistic asets with Pfizer's current and future assets, such as Seagen's anti-body drug conjugates (ADC), given pelareorep's synergistic effects with immune checkpoint inhibitors - and Pfizer's intent to combine ADCs with its immune checkpoint inhibitors. However - without ONCY's pelareorep, Pfizer's plans to combine ADCs with ICIs would not be as impactful due to the ADC's limited affect on enhancing ICIs due to a hypoxic TME and an inability to "prime" the innate/adaptive immune system, which pelareorep has shown it can address.