Pfizer sells research site to Monsanto for $435 million
This article was originally published in Scrip
Pfizer has sold its Chesterfield Village Research Center to the agricultural products giant Monsanto for $435 million. Pfizer will continue to operate out of the Missouri site through a lease agreement. Its main focus will be biotherapeutic pharmaceutical research.
Don Frail, vice-president of Pfizer's St. Louis site, said: "We will continue to partner with Monsanto to ensure high-calibre research is ongoing in St. Louis and that researchers from both companies will continue to share the Chesterfield Village Research Center."
Monsanto will use the site to continue to support its pipeline, particularly its drought-tolerant corn and higher-yielding soybeans. The companies expect to complete the transaction in the first half of next year.
The research site includes about 250 laboratories, 122 plant growth chambers and 2 acres of greenhouse, and Monsanto already leases around 400,000 sq ft out of a total of 1.3 million sq ft. In fact, the centre was built by Monsanto in its original incarnation as a life sciences firm with interests in both agriculture and pharmaceuticals in the 1980s, before it merged with Pharmacia & Upjohn in 2000. In 2002, the current Monsanto was spun off from Pharmacia, which was itself acquired by Pfizer the following year. Monsanto has leased space at the site since it split from Pharmacia.
On Monday, Pfizer announced that it was cutting back its R&D activities and staff following the close of its acquisition of Wyeth. The firm will conduct research at five main sites and nine specialised units across the world, compared with 20 facilities just last month. The changes will reduce the total square footage of its global R&D operations by 35% (scripnews.com, November 10th, 2009).