Sanofi Builds Blood Disorder Specialty with Bioverativ
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26 January 2018 No. 3889 Scripscrip.pharmaintelligence.informa.com Pharma intelligence | informa been anxious to see the French pharma move on the business development front to reduce its dependence on the challeng- ing diabetes market, and particularly on the blockbuster Lantus (insulin glargine). The company missed out on two high- profile M&A attempts. It lost out on a bid to buy the cancer specialist Medivation Inc. in 2016 to Pfizer Inc.’s $14bn offer and it also lost Actelion Pharmaceuti- cals Ltd. to Johnson & Johnson, which bought the Swiss biotech in a $30bn deal. (Also see “Pressed Sanofi CEO Hopes For Positive Dupixent Launch, Praluent Rul- ing” - Scrip, 8 Feb, 2017.) With Bioverativ, Sanofi finally sealed the deal, agreeing to pay $105 per share in cash, a 64% premium over the company’s clos- Shutterstock: Bart Shutterstock: Sadowski ing price on Jan. 19. Bioverativ was only spun out of Biogen Inc. a year ago, on Feb. 1, 2017. (Also see “Bioverativ Hits The Street Sanofi Builds Blood Disorder Ready To Expand In Blood Disorders” - Scrip, 26 Jan, 2017.) The company was tasked with growing the two marketed products and Specialty With Bioverativ Buy building out a hematology pipeline. Alprolix KEVIN GROGAN & JESSICA MERRILL and Eloctate have been growing; Bioverativ generated $839.8m in the first nine months anofi is making a big bet on blood gene-edited cell therapy for beta-thalas- of 2017. However, Bioverativ only owns the disorders with the $11.6bn acquisi- semia that’s ready for the clinic and a pre- rights to the products in North America Stion of Bioverativ Inc. The acquisition, clinical gene therapy for hemophilia. (Also and other select markets, while Swedish announced Jan. 22, will position Sanofi as a see “Bioverativ: More Than Just A Hemophilia Orphan Biovitrum AB owns commercial leader in hemophilia, but the competition Company” - Scrip, 22 Jan, 2018.) rights in Europe, Russia and most Middle in the category is fierce and the prospect of Much may be made about whether the Eastern countries. gene therapy sits just on the horizon, raising deal represents a commitment to gene “Bioverativ is a pure play in the large questions about the steep premium Sanofi therapy on the part of Sanofi or, by bringing and growing hemophilia market and has paid. in the two marketed factor inhibitors, the brings an immediate leadership position In addition to two marketed drugs that opposite. In reality, it’s probably just a bet for Sanofi,” CEO Olivier Brandicourt said are on track to generate more than $1bn that factor inhibitors like Eloctate and Alpro- in a same-day conference call announc- in combined revenues in 2017, Eloctate lix will continue to dominate the market for ing the acquisition. “Second, it brings op- (recombinant Factor VIII) for hemophilia A the next several years. portunities to leverage growth of a new platform including Bioverativ’s pipeline of and Alprolix (recombinant Factor IX) for he- For Sanofi, the deal adds some meat to rare blood disorder assets and our novel mophilia B, Sanofi will gain a pipeline that the portfolio’s bones in one of the compa- hemophilia agent fitusiran.” includes a Phase III drug for the rare blood ny’s core areas, rare diseases, where it leads disease cold agglutinin disease (CAgD), a with its Sanofi Genzyme unit. Investors have CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE EDITORS OF PHARMASIA NEWS, START-UP AND SCRIP INTELLIGENCE Hudson On Leadership Walmsley Takes On Cancer Celgene’s CAR-T Ambitions Novartis pharma CEO Can GSK be a power in oncology? (p10) Juno buy propels in cancer relishes change (p9) and hematology (p6) IN THIS ISSUE from the editor [email protected] As those of you who follow our coverage online will freed-up cash. J&J’s CFO Dominic Caruso has indicated have seen, Scrip has now set off on the annual marathon that the diversified giant will repatriate a chunk of cash of covering pharma sales conferences. it had kept overseas, to spend on US operations and We’ve published our first results preview round-ups paying off debts. The company’s executives minimized on www.scripnews.com, and will follow up with further the prospects of it going on an M&A spree, however, expectation-setting pieces on Jan. 26 and Feb. 2, as the something that many observers nonetheless believe will reporting period progresses. If you want to get ahead of grip the pharma industry in general in 2018. the game, check out our website. By the time you read Deal-making activity failed to reach conflagration this, we’ll have analyzed and digested the financial re- status at J.P. Morgan this year, but since the annual ports and associated executive pronouncements and industry shindig in San Francisco ended a couple of general corporate updates from Johnson & Johnson, deals have set pharma hearts racing: Sanofi’s planned Novartis, Celgene, Biogen and AbbVie. More on those purchase of Bioverativ (the year-old spin-out of Bio- in next week’s issue. gen’s hemophilia drugs and blood disorder R&D as- We’re expecting US tax reform to be a hot topic this sets), and Celgene’s announced acquisition of its CAR- results season, and anticipate that the leaders of big US T partner Juno Therapeutics. Get the lowdown inside firms will tackle the question of how they might use this issue. 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ISSN 0143 7690. 2 | Scrip | 26 January 2018 © Informa UK Ltd 2018 Biotech Unicorns Pangalos On In China R&D Productivity Keytruda Combo Hit 20 18 16 20 exclusive online content inside: Amgen Wins First EU Avastin Biosimilar Approval, But COVER / Sanofi Builds Blood Disorder Specialty With When Will It Launch? Bioverativ Buy http://bit.ly/2DwgV5V Partners Amgen and Allergan have become the first biosimilar 4 Bioverativ: More Than Just A Hemophilia Company developers to win EU approval for a copycat version of Roche’s Avastin; commercialization preparation is underway but 6 Celgene Seeks CAR-T Leadership, Hematology Diversification predicting a launch date for the product is more complicated. With Juno Buy Astellas’ ASP0113 Trial Failure Gives Merck’s Prevymis 8 Teva Falls Behind With SC Cinqair Failure Further CMV Boost http://bit.ly/2rz2MDh 9 Novartis Pharma CEO Hudson On Leadership Merck’s Prevymis should benefit from the failure of ASP0113 And Launches in a late-stage trial treating cytomegalovirus in certain kidney transplant patients. 10 Walmsley Takes On Oncology: Can GSK Become A Power Player? Riding The Next Wave Of Biosimilars: Sandoz To Link Up With India’s Biocon 12 Allergan Relying On ‘Six Stars’ To Blunt Restasis Blow http://bit.ly/2BozBTb Pooling resources appears key to a major new collaboration 14 Mylan CEO Bresch On How Mylan Is Different Than Teva in the biosimilars space, between Sandoz and India’s Biocon, to develop the next generation of biosimilar immunology and oncology products. 15 Exelixis CEO Eyes Expanded Indications For Cabometyx 16 Merck Hits IO Bullseye With Keytruda Combo In Could Probiodrug Represent A New Era Of First-line Lung Cancer Alzheimer’s R&D Progress? http://bit.ly/2E57lIt 18 China In 2018: Watch Out For AI, CAR-T, Biotech Unicorns Probiodrug believes it can bring success to an Alzheimer’s research community that has been hard hit by clinical failures in the last few years – but the company will need a partner or 20 AstraZeneca’s Pangalos On How He Turned Around R&D cash influx to take its first-in-class drug through late-stage trials. Productivity Korea Stepping Up IO R&D To Catch Up With Global 22 Pipeline Watch Players, Trends http://bit.ly/2rwzLIz 23 Appointments Immuno-oncology deals and R&D by South Korean companies are picking up speed as they are put more focus on the hot sector in line with global trends. Deal Watch: From The Sidelines Of J.P. Morgan, Lots Of Discovery Deals http://bit.ly/2n43FPH Strongbridge obtains rights from AEterna Zentaris to first drug approved for adult growth hormone deficiency. While the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference didn’t have many major deal announcements, there was a flurry of announcements around @PharmaScrip /scripintelligence discovery and development capabilities. /scripintelligence /scripintelligence scrip.pharmaintelligence.informa.com 26 January 2018 | Scrip | 3 HEADLINE NEWS Bioverativ: More Than Just A Hemophilia Company JESSICA MERRILL [email protected] ioverativ Inc.’s two marketed hemophilia drugs, Eloctate and Alprolix, get most of the attention, but the blood disease spe- Bcialist has been focused on diversifying beyond hemophilia in the year since it was spun out from Biogen.