(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own.)

NEW YORK - Pfizer is planning for life after the pandemic. Its $6.7 billion deal to buy drugmaker Arena Pharmaceuticals, at a 100% premium, is a bid to ensure the U.S. pharma giant has options.

Arena’s drugs aim to treat inflammatory conditions like ulcerative colitis, which Pfizer already targets through a different mechanism. While Covid shots make up more than one-third of Pfizer’s $82 billion of estimated revenue for 2021, boss Albert Bourla still has other mouths to feed.

Meanwhile at rival vaccine maker Moderna, early results for a flu shot on Friday were middling and shares fell as much as 14%. Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel is under more pressure than Bourla: Moderna remains a one-product company for now.

Pfizer may already have salved one condition, namely the weak biotech market. Its Arena deal is the third biggest in a slow year, according to Refinitiv data. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index is down in 2021, whereas the S&P 500 Index is up around 28%. Smaller drug developers' shareholders would love more big peers to think about post-pandemic life. (By John Foley)

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own.)

(Editing by Richard Beales and Sharon Lam) ((SIGN UP FOR BREAKINGVIEWS EMAIL ALERTS: https://bit.ly/BVsubscribe))