Baxter (NYSE:BAX) agreed to offload its commercial vaccines business to pharmaceutical rival Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) for $635 million in cash.

The deal includes Baxter’s NeisVac-C meningitis vaccine and the FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac encephalitis vaccine, both of which are already on the market outside of the U.S. Pfizer is also taking over part of an Austrian plant where the vaccines are manufactured, according to a press release.

The divestiture is a small part of Baxter’s larger efforts to spin out its pharmaceuticals business into a separate, independent entity. The company announced earlier this year that it would follow in the footsteps of rivals Abbott (NYSE:ABT) and Covidien (NYSE:COV) in separating its drugs business from other medical products.

”This action reflects our strategic priority to optimize the portfolio and enhance focus in specific disease areas as Baxter’s BioScience organization prepares to become a separate, independent global biopharmaceutical company," Baxter Bioscience president Ludwig Hantson said in prepared remarks. "We are redirecting resources and investing in our robust pipeline centered on core areas of expertise – hematology and immunology – and through technology platforms like gene therapy and biosimilars."

Baxter expects the deal close by the end of this year and that it will be mildly dilutive to Q4 2014 and full-year 2015 earnings.

BAX shares dropped a couple of points today to close at $74.69, down 1.8% on the day. The stock has gained 7.4% since the start of the year.