British drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC on Friday outlined plans to jump-start its widely criticized pipeline by folding in acquired drugs and targeting biologics, in step with an emerging industry-wide trend.
AstraZeneca said its newly acquired MedImmune business expects to have at least three new drug candidates in trials by 2010 and hopes to have an average of six new drug applications for submission per year. AstraZeneca bought Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune Inc. in June for $15.6 billion to bolster its product portfolio and pipeline.
AstraZeneca is just one of several branded pharmaceutical companies struggling with expirations of key drug patents and subsequent competition from cheaper, generic drugs. The stock is down about 13 percent from the start of the year.
Executive Director of Development Dr. John Patterson recently told the Associated Press in an interview that the company's improved research and development strategy will offset the effect of generics. Analysts have said their main concern is the declining performance of the company's top-selling medicines, such as blockbuster cholesterol drug Crestor.
At a presentation in Maryland, MedImmune senior executives explained how its developmental programs are being rolled into its new parent's pipeline, and which therapy areas the combined companies will target. AstraZeneca plans to file an application for MedImmune's nasal spray flu vaccine FluMist with European regulators next year.
MedImmune has multiple programs currently under way to develop targeted treatments for a variety of respiratory and inflammatory diseases. An important area of focus for MedImmune is the control of asthma symptoms.
"Our biologics pipeline now has more than doubled in size to contain 100 research projects and more than a dozen clinical product candidates," said MedImmune Chief Executive David Mott.
During the presentation, AstraZeneca also highlighted its efforts to speed development of its candidates and improve the breadth of its pipeline, which analysts have called thin.
The company said it has raised the number of projects in development to 156 in 2007 from 120 a year ago and has 10 projects in Phase III or late-stage studies, up from five a year ago. It also is targeting filing an application with regulators for its Crestor/fenofibric acid combination therapy in 2009.
"Through the acquisition of MedImmune and the reorganization of our existing biologics capabilities under the MedImmune brand, AstraZeneca has accelerated delivery of its biologics strategy while lowering its execution risk," said AstraZeneca Chief Executive David Brennan.
This fits an industrywide trend of big pharmaceuticals snapping up biopharmaceutical companies to bolster their pipelines, rather than spend their own time and money to develop drugs.
On Wednesday, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced a 10 percent staff reduction and a number of plant closings. The company appears to be trying to raise cash to buy more biopharmaceutical companies and prepare for impending patent losses on blockbuster drugs like anticoagulant Plavix.
The company hinted at more buyouts, saying it "seeks to reallocate resources to enable additional strategic acquisitions," such as the recent purchase of biopharmaceutical company Adnexus Therapeutics.
On Thursday, Eli Lilly & Co. also said the company has stepped up launches of its mid- and late-stage pipeline to meet the challenge of patent expirations on several key products during the next decade.
Lilly plans to launch six new drugs or new formulations of existing drugs by 2011. It also aims to have 10 drug compounds in late-stage clinical testing by 2011 and wants to launch two new compounds per year beginning in 2011, increasing to three per year by 2014.
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