Pfizer to buy Hospira for $15 billion

BENGALURU, Feb 5 (Reuters): Drugmaker Pfizer Inc said it would buy Hospira Inc for about $15 billion to gain access to biosimilars, copies of biotech drugs made from living cells.

Pfizer's offer of $90 per share represents a premium of 39 per cent to Hospira stock's close on Wednesday. Hospira was trading at $88 before the bell, while Pfizer was up 1.7 per cent.

Drugmakers are racing to develop biosimilars, which typically cost 20-30 percent less than the original, as big-ticket patents on biotech drugs expire and cash-strapped healthcare systems look to cut costs.

Biosimilars are expected to account for about a quarter of the $100 billion in sales stemming from off-patent biological drugs by the end of the decade, according to a study compiled by Thomson Reuters BioWorld.