Jazz Pharmaceutical, the company behind Vivint and other drugs for rare and serious diseases, said Thursday that it will not be selling its stock to pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
“The board is not sold on the merits of the acquisition,” Jazz said in a statement.
The company said it is not taking any additional actions.
Pfizer has long been one of Jazz’s biggest customers, with sales totaling $9.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended on Oct. 31.
“Pfizer is a leader in the industry and we look forward to working together with Jazz and its employees on this exciting future,” said Pfizer’s president of global health, Dr. David A. Johnson, in a prepared statement.
Jazz’s board has previously said it would be interested in the acquisition, which would bring the company’s total revenues to $8.7 million this year.
But the company said Wednesday that it would not be taking a position in Pfizer, and the company did not say when it would announce the deal.
Jazz, which is owned by the Warren family, also owns the pharmaceuticals company OrthoPharma, which makes Tylenol.
Johnson has been a vocal critic of the proposed merger, saying that Pfizer should have waited until Vivint was no longer profitable before doing so.
“This merger is a direct threat to our industry and its patients,” Johnson said at the time.
“It’s the most destructive merger in the history of the drug industry.”
Jazz is one of several companies that are being eyed as potential buyers of Vivint.
A consortium of U.S. pharmaceutical companies is also interested in acquiring Vivint, a spokeswoman for one of the companies said.
But Vivint said it was not planning to discuss the deal with any of the potential buyers.
“We do not intend to discuss Vivint with any interested parties,” said the company.