Apr
24
Posted under
Blog,
Companies,
Diagnostics,
Funding,
Medical Devices,
Medical Supply,
Pharmaceuticals,
R&D,
Robert Bradway,
Roger Perlmutter,
Startups,
Universities,
Videos by john
In the 18 months ahead of his recent departure from the top R&D post at Amgen ($AMGN), Roger Perlmutter helped execute at least three new deals: Committing up to a billion dollars to buy BioVex and bring in the cancer cell-killing virus it engineered; snagging Micromet in a $1.2 billion buyout and landing KAI Pharma and its CKD therapy for $315 million a few weeks ago. Those programs were all added to an R&D effort that was heavily weighted to late-stage work, especially after a restructuring effort last fall and an out-licensing pact with AstraZeneca. And its PCSK9 program on LDL has generated significant buzz.
But some analysts say that the new CEO at Amgen--Bob Bradway (photo)--will need to pull off more licensing and buyout deals if he wants to earn a good reputation for an up-an-coming pipeline effort. Reuters canvased a number of analysts who follow Amgen. And their slate of potential takeovers include Ariad, which would add late-stage cancer drugs to the effort, as well as UCB and Actelion, the Swiss developer which is girding itself for a pivotal readout on its crucial macitentan program.
"They are likely to announce a more focused, strategic R&D strategy which includes more in-licensing, acquisitions and focusing on their core strength," RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Yee tells Reuters. "I don't see the company undergoing a major restructuring and divesting drugs."
Others, though, would be happy to see Amgen use its $20 billion cash cache to hand out bigger dividends to shareholders. Bradway takes over on May 23rd. And evidently the one thing he can't afford to do is nothing. With investors restive and R&D gobbling up about 20% of revenue, analysts want to see some decisive actions to reassure them that the company knows where it's headed and how to get there.
Whatever that is.
- here's the feature from Reuters
Special Report: Robert A. Bradway - The 25 most influential people in biopharma today
Related Articles:
Amgen aims for growth in bone drugs, overseas markets
Amgen CEO Sharer, R&D chief Perlmutter stepping down in shakeup
Dec
16
Posted under
Amgen,
Blog,
Companies,
Diagnostics,
Funding,
Kevin Sharer,
Medical Devices,
Medical Supply,
Pharmaceuticals,
Robert Bradway,
Sean Harper,
Startups,
Universities,
Videos by John Carroll
With investors chronically unhappy over an unimpressive stock price and the R&D wing being sliced back to reduce the bite it takes out of revenue, Amgen announced yesterday that both its CEO and R&D chief are stepping down from their posts. Kevin Sharer will step down May 23rd and Roger Perlmutter will hand over the research reins in February to Sean Harper, the chief medical officer. Bob Bradway, the COO, will become chief executive in a pair of moves widely interpreted as a shakeup at the top.
While revenue has swelled during Sharer's tenure at the top of the world's biggest biotech, the share price has remained mired by the heavy pressure applied to its anemia drug franchise as safety concerns has curtailed use of their treatments and the prospect of biosimilar competition grew.
Perlmutter, meanwhile, had made some bold moves recently to expand Amgen's pipeline of cancer drugs, buying out BioVex and acquiring its late-stage therapeutic vaccine in a billion-dollar deal and executing a pact with Micromet in another billion-dollar agreement. The BioVex deal delivered OncoVex, which uses a cancer-destroying virus modified from a cold sore virus designed to replicate in solid tumors while spurring the immune system to go in and tackle the cancer as well.
But OncoVex along with other late-stage programs like AMG 386, ganitumab (AMG 479), and AMG 145 fueled a spike in R&D costs, pushing the share of research expenses to revenue to about 20%. As a result, Amgen was forced to axe 380 R&D workers this year to help placate restive investors and improve the math at Amgen. But it didn't work.
"You have a high level of investor dissatisfaction," Bernstein's Geoffrey Porges tells The New York Times. "You can clearly see the hand of the investors and the market in these transitions."
"What I think Bob Bradway needs to do is shake up the culture at Amgen, to reinvigorate a focus of innovation for new products and a focus on cutting expenses," RBC's Michael Yee told Bloomberg. "This company has not had a successful history of business development." And that could trigger new partnership deals.
- see the Amgen announcement
- read the story from The New York Times
- here's the Bloomberg piece
Special Report: Amgen - Biotech's Biggest Spenders 2011
Related Articles:
Amgen's Sharer wins big as "peer benchmarking" drives up CEO pay
Skeptical investors demanding R&D strategy, dividends at Amgen meeting
Amgen CEO gets 38% pay increase to $21M