Pfiz­er scoops up Are­na and its S1P drug in $6.7B buy­out — chas­ing Bris­tol My­ers and cap­ping a lengthy biotech turn­around

When Bris­tol My­ers Squibb cel­e­brat­ed the ap­proval of ozan­i­mod — brand­ed Zeposia — in ul­cer­a­tive col­i­tis ear­li­er this year, the com­pa­ny tout­ed the first gas­troin­testi­nal in­di­ca­tion for an S1P re­cep­tor mod­u­la­tor.

Now Pfiz­er wants to give the phar­ma ri­val a run for its mon­ey.

Pfiz­er is drop­ping $6.7 bil­lion to ac­quire Are­na Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals, whose lead drug, etrasi­mod, tar­gets the sphin­go­sine 1-phos­phate re­cep­tor.

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