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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Expanding Large Molecule Capabilities: Teva’s Latest Acquisition
From issue 93 of the PharmaDeals Review (2008-03-01)
The desire of generics companies to diversify into the biologics arena has been demonstrated in the recent US$400 M acquisition of CoGenesys by the Israeli generics giant, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. The appeal of Maryland-based CoGenesys is the company’s proprietary platform technology, albumin fusion, which uses recombinant DNA technology to create proteins/peptides that have been modified to have reduced dosing, thus potentially increasing their safety. Teva is also gaining a reasonably populated pipeline of proteins targeting a range of different therapeutic categories.
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The War Dividend
From issue 93 of the PharmaDeals Review (2008-03-01)
In the context of the legacy of past conflict, this article looks at a very specific area of R&D sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) through its Orthopaedic Trauma Research Program (OTRP), which was created in 2006. The OTRP received US$7.5 M in 2006, and US$6.8 M was approved in 2007. Typically, projects selected for grant aid are funded up to an annual ceiling of US$500,000, in six key areas associated with orthopaedic injuries. The article provides brief details of some of the proposals that have been accepted for inclusion in each of these areas.
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Therapy Focus – Melanoma Vaccines
From issue 93 of the PharmaDeals Review (2008-03-01)
Malignant melanoma comprises just 3% of skin cancers, but is the most deadly form of this type of cancer, accounting for about 80% of all skin cancer deaths. This feature discusses the immunotherapeutic approach to melanoma treatment, and describes the various products that are under development, and the associated deals. The products include: Oxford BioMedica’s recombinant vector vaccine Hi-8® MEL; Vical’s vaccine Allovectin-7®, a gene therapy vaccine product; and vaccines from Antigenics, GlaxoSmithKline, CSL, IDM Pharma and AVAX Technologies.
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Genzyme Goes Mainstream
From issue 92 of the PharmaDeals Review (2008-02-01)
Genzyme has broken away from its niche market model in its agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals for mipomersen, an antisense drug for high-risk cardiovascular (hypercholesterolaemic) patients, for which Genzyme has acquired an exclusive worldwide licence for a headline-grabbing US$1.9 B. The cardiovascular focus of the deal is a move away from liposomal storage disorders, on which Genzyme has relied since its inception in 1983. This article gives an overview of the company, and of the background to Isis’ antisense technology. It also discusses the pyramidal process to be adopted for the development of mipomersen, and analyses the financial structure of the deal and the reasoning behind it.
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Merck Chooses Addex a Second Time
From issue 92 of the PharmaDeals Review (2008-02-01)
At the beginning of 2008, the Swiss company Addex Pharmaceuticals signed a major schizophrenia deal with Merck & Co., the second neurological alliance that the companies have entered into in as many months. Both deals involved products developed using Addex’s novel allosteric modulator technology and targeting metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). Both agreements were also for early-stage products, a feature that is becoming all too common in deals involving big pharma, and is touched upon here. The allosteric modulator approach to CNS drug therapy is described and contrasted with earlier approaches, and its prospects of becoming a first-in-class technique assessed, along with discussion of the strategic fit between the companies.
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