PharmaDeals Review Business Commentaries
Dr Fintan Walton, PharmaVentures’ CEO, provides monthly comment on topical biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry issues. Includes access to Fintan’s commentaries broadcast on PharmaTelevision.
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Viral Gene Delivery – Gene Therapy and Beyond
From issue 81 of the PharmaDeals Review (2007-03-01)
Viral gene delivery underpins a range of therapies including gene therapy, vaccines and drug discovery. A likely flu pandemic, biothreats, the approval of the first gene therapy product in 2004 and the expanded use of viral vectors in drug discovery are key drivers in a market where income from gene therapeutics alone is predicted to rise from US$125 M in 2006 to US$6.5 B by 2011. There are currently a promising range of viral vectors in the clinic, led by adenoviral and lentiviral vectors. This review summarises the deals, trends and problems associated with viral gene delivery and the impact that it has had on therapeutics and the associated market.
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Seattle Genetics Boosts Cash Pile with January Deals
From issue 80 of the PharmaDeals Review (2007-02-01)
Small US drug development company Seattle Genetics put its name back on the deal making map in January 2007 when it signed two deals in close succession. The first was a collaborative agreement with fellow US company Agensys to jointly screen and select products using Seattle Genetics’ antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) technology. The second was a US$860 M licensing deal with biotech giant Genentech for Seattle Genetics’ Phase I/II cancer drug SGN-40 – the second time the companies have partnered this compound. Both deals are in the cancer sector and were met with great enthusiasm by the majority of Seattle Genetics’ investors.
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When Giants Meet: Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca Form Alliance for Diabetes Drug
From issue 80 of the PharmaDeals Review (2007-02-01)
As pipeline failures continue to exert pressure upon the industry, billion-dollar licensing deals between big pharma and biotech companies no longer result in the raised eyebrows they once did. What are still relatively rare, however, are alliances between the big pharmas themselves. This feature investigates the recent deal between Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), the eighth largest pharma in the world, and AstraZeneca, the sixth largest, to develop and commercialise two investigational compounds for type 2 diabetes. Although they are both top 10 companies, the financial impetus is still with the larger of the two, with AstraZeneca committed to paying up to US$1.35 B to BMS over the course of their collaboration, a notably large amount in terms of total potential value.
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Nanotechnology for Drug Delivery: A Validated Technology?
From issue 80 of the PharmaDeals Review (2007-02-01)
This article by PharmaVentures’ Kevin Bottomley is adapted from the company’s Autumn/Winter 2006 Drug Delivery Report. It looks at the history, development, and therapeutic and commercial validation of the use of nanotechnology for drug delivery. The first technology addressed is NanoSystems’, and later Elan’s, market-leading NanoCrystal® technology; details are provided of the drugs that have successfully used this, and of the many deals that have involved access to it. An outline is also given of the related crystalline technology offered by Dow Pharma, and by others. The two other nanotechnologies discussed are liposomal drug delivery (with information on the deals that have concerned this), and Abraxis’ nanoparticle albumin-bound (or nab™) technology. Potential future developments are also considered.
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Therapy Focus: Parkinson’s Disease
From issue 80 of the PharmaDeals Review (2007-02-01)
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive disorder of movement that affects over one million people in the US alone. There is currently no cure for PD and symptomatic drug therapy is the standard course, treating the symptoms of the disease but not necessarily slowing the rate of progression of the condition. Levodopa (L-dopa) has long been the mainstay of therapy for PD, but its long-term shortcomings – principally unco-ordinated, spasmodic or irregular movements (dyskinesias) and fluctuating control of motor symptoms (‘on/off’ fluctuations) – are well documented. This article discusses the current treatments for PD, as well as deal making and R&D trends.
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