Dec
21
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A day after AstraZeneca ($AZN) managed to raise fresh doubts about its ability to efficiently develop new therapies with twin setbacks in the clinic, the pharma company is back with a pair of new pipeline pacts. The pharma giant paid $20 million upfront and pledged up to $120 million in milestones for the rights to develop a preclinical cancer treatment discovered in China. And it snagged an option on a pair of diabetes drugs in Astellas' pipeline.
AstraZeneca's deal with Chi-Med revolves around volitinib (HMPL-504), an inhibitor of the c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase, now slated to begin a near-term Phase I study. And AstraZeneca highlighted the role Chinese investigators will play in the development of the treatment. "Volitinib represents a highly attractive global opportunity for AstraZeneca as we seek to develop and commercialise novel, targeted cancer therapies," says Susan Galbraith, head of AstraZeneca's Oncology Innovative Medicines. "This collaboration with HMP represents our commitment to China and brings together two groups with highly complementary capabilities."
AstraZeneca simultaneously completed an option deal with Japan's Astellas for the acquisition of PSN821, a mid-stage treatment, and the pre-clinical PSN842--both for type 2 diabetes. The drugs are oral G protein-coupled receptor GPR119 agonists, "a potential new class of medicines for diabetes." There's no word on exactly how much AstraZeneca is paying for the option to buy the drugs.
Neither of these deals are likely to compensate for the demise of AstraZeneca's ovarian cancer study for olaparib or the news yesterday that the second Phase III study of TC-5214 proved a bust, just like the first one. Olaparib was in Phase II for ovarian cancer when investigators decided to scuttle the program. And TC-5214 was one of the late-stage prospects that AstraZeneca needed to generate fresh revenue.
- read the release on the Chi-Med deal
- here's the release on the pact with Astellas
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Dec
20
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AstraZeneca ($AZN) has back-to-back setbacks to report on a pair of key drug development programs. The pharma giant reported that it's burying the ovarian cancer drug program for olaparib after concluding that a mid-stage trial failure made it impossible for investigators to push ahead to the next stage. And investigators had more bad news to report to AstraZeneca and Targacept ($TRGT) about TC-5214, their partnered drug for depression. The treatment flunked its second of four Phase III trials, signaling some deep trouble for a treatment AstraZeneca promised to pay up to $1.24 billion for in their pact.
Those trial woes prompted AstraZeneca to add a $381.5 million impairment charge to its fourth quarter numbers, with $96.5 million of that representing the rapidly dwindling chance of success for the anti-depressant.
The trial failures mark another setback for the development execs at AstraZeneca, who have been struggling to overcome a lackluster record in the clinic. And it's another major blow to Targacept, which already had to deal with the departure of GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) in the biggest biopharma deal breakup of 2011. Targacept's already battered shares fell 27% this morning.
"AstraZeneca seems to have had more than its fair share of misfortune when it comes to the development pipeline," Barclays Capital noted. "Additional development failures increase the probability that management will reassess the likely return on investment from additional R&D investment and cut costs further."
As in the first Phase III study, TC-5214 could not beat out a placebo in treating depression. Their target measure was a change in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale total score after eight weeks of treatment with TC-5214 as compared to placebo.
Back in 2009 olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, had been one of the stars of the ASCO show, as investigators unveiled significant tumor shrinkage. And the pharma giant isn't giving up on either program. Olaparib will be studied in other cancers while the TC-5214 treatment still has two other late-stage studies to complete.
- read the press release
- here's the Bloomberg report
- get the Dow Jones story
Related Articles:
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GSK cancels $1.5B Targacept pact
Add-on depression meds a bright spot in eroding market