HGS faces skeptics as it boasts of a crowded bargaining table

Posted under albiglutide, Blog, Companies, darapladib, Diabetes, Diagnostics, Funding, GlaxoSmithKline, Human Genome Sciences, M&A, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by John Carroll

Human Genome Sciences has prescribed a poison pill for GlaxoSmithKline's hostile takeover bid. And after making a detailed case for a much better buyout deal, the biotech says it's already engaged in talks with other pharma and biotech companies interested in bidding on the company. 

In a lengthy statement, HGS ($HGSI) asserts that it "has entered into confidentiality agreements with certain parties and is providing those parties an opportunity to engage in a due diligence review of confidential information." And the company goes on to complain that GSK ($GSK), its long-time development partner with an intimate understanding of the company's potential, simply waited until its share price hit a 52-week low before pouncing.

The biotech's remarks include a detailed case for its pipeline, which includes the potential blockbuster darapladib, a heart drug. Albiglutide, an experimental treatment for diabetes, is tied to $150 million in potential milestones alone. But the argument made little headway with at least one key analyst.

"This is all the usual and expected posturing," Cowen's Eric Schmidt noted to Bloomberg. "I believe GSK remains committed to buying HGSI and do not expect others to have much interest." 

- here's the press release
- read the Bloomberg report
- get the story from The New York Times

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GSK lands one-two punch in melanoma trial

Posted under ASCO, Blog, BRAF inhibitor, Companies, dabrafenib, Diagnostics, Funding, GlaxoSmithKline, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Melanoma, personalized medicine, Pharmaceuticals, R&D, Roche, skin cancer, Startups, targeted therapies, trametinib, Universities, Videos, Zelboraf by rmcbride

GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) is rushing to start a late-stage trial of an experimental cocktail therapy against deadly skin cancer after a mid-stage study produced impressive results. And data from the small trial provide early evidence that GSK's two-drug combo could have an edge over Roche's ($RHHBY) approved melanoma drug Zelboraf.

In the 77-patient study, those who took the combo of GSK's BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and MEK-targeting agent trametinib lived for 7.4 months without their melanoma getting worse. Also, there were data to support that the combo could reduce a patient's risk of developing a separate cancer known as squamous-cell carcinoma while taking BRAF blockers, which are linked to growth of the tumors, Bloomberg reported.

Roche's Zelboraf is the first BRAF inhibitor approved for treating melanoma. GSK aims to stymie mutated forms of BRAF with dabrafenib, and pack the added punch of the MET-blocking trametinib to close an escape route that melanomas travel to skirt attacks from BRAF inhibitors. And despite the advance in care that Zelboraf has provided, about a third of patients on the drug develop cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma and most patients' tumors eventually build up resistance to the targeted drug, Reuters reported.   

"We know that cancers are smart," said ASCO president-elect Dr. Sandra Swain, as quoted by Reuters. "They find work-around pathways. We are seeing a very innovative approach that ostensibly blocks off some of this pathway."

The results of GSK's study were revealed Wednesday as part of an avalanche of cancer trial news tied to next month's ASCO meeting, where the London-based drug giant will present the study and feed a frenzy in the oncology world for targeted treatments that are tailored for cancer patients based on the specific molecular drivers of their tumors.

Not surprisingly, GSK's combo is already drawing comparisons to Zelboraf. And Bloomberg noted that, while the London-based giant's study showed that its two-drug combo provided longer profession-free survival than Roche's BRAF inhibitor in similar studies, Roche pointed out to the news service that such comparisons are premature.

- check out Bloomberg's article
- see Reuters' report

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Cancer drug experts brace for ASCO abstract dump tonight

Posted under ASCO, Blog, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Companies, dabrafenib, Diagnostics, Funding, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, personalized medicine, Pfizer, Pharmaceuticals, Pipeline, Roche, Startups, trametinib, Universities, Videos, Xalkori, Zytiga by john

Tonight's the big night for cancer drug watchers. ASCO is releasing a mountain of data on cancer studies, and some of the biggest names in the business will be angling for star billing on some closely watched therapies.

Peter Loftus at Dow Jones lists Pfizer ($PFE), GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) among the big names that will be featured tonight. But Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) and Roche (T-DM1) plan to hold back on the headlines until the confab in Chicago gets under way.

For GSK, dabrafenib and trametinib are slated for top billing. Together, the two therapies could earn more than $700 million a year, Cowen reports. Pfizer, meanwhile, will be looking to make a case to expand the approval for Xalkori while J&J will make a case for Zytiga.

As Loftus notes in his report, one of the big themes this year will be the continued focus on personalized medicine, as investigators look for better results from cancer therapies targeted to specific patient populations.

- here's the story from Dow Jones

Special Report: Top 10 Late-Stage Cancer Drugs – 2012

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GSK snags proteomics platform tech in $98M Cellzome buyout

Posted under Blog, Cellzome, Companies, Diagnostics, drug screening, Europe, Funding, GlaxoSmithKline, inflammation, M&A, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, proteomics, Startups, Universities, Videos by john

Four years after it first clambered aboard Cellzome's drug discovery platform, GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) has opted to buy out the company for $98 million, snagging full rights to a pair of early-stage inflammation programs and a proteomics technology that it plans to use to screen drug candidates. In the deal GSK will cherry-pick the assets it likes, leaving room for a spinoff company to take shape with the unclaimed portion of work being carried out in labs in Cambridge, U.K. and Heidelberg, Germany.

In announcing the acquisition, in which GSK will add all the outstanding shares the pharma giant didn't already own, the R&D division had high praise for technology capable of spying drug interactions with target proteins in what it called a close proximity to a "whole biological system." 

"The acquisition of Cellzome adds significantly to our scientific capabilities and capacity to characterize drug targets and provides the opportunity to further enhance GSK's ability to bring medicines to patients in a more effective manner," said John Baldoni, senior vice president, platform and technology science, at GSK. 

GSK had partnered on two early-stage drug programs with Cellzome, but the company hasn't specified exactly what is being spun off into a new company. GSK has been an active dealmaker in recent years, licensing and buying new drug technologies as it creates new drug development units in R&D. This is the first time it's acquired a new platform technology, though, in 5 years.

- here's the press release

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