RE: Why These Results are huge23 Apr 2019 16:21
Drugmakers in 2018 have been keen to bolster their presence in some of modern medicine’s most innovative therapeutic techniques. One such technique that has received a lot of coverage is gene therapy, where America’s Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) is making the largest moves, paying $9 billion in January for Juno, a pioneer in CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T and TCR (T cell receptor) therapies, in a bid to become a leader in cellular immunotherapy. The anticipated FDA approval in 2019 of Juno’s JCAR017 for aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and projected annual sales of $3 billion, certainly make the Juno deal seem prudent. The Juno deal came hot on the heels of Celgene’s $7 billion buyout of Impact Biomedicines and its promising myelofibrosis drug fedratinib.
Celgene followed Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) in paying blockbuster fees for a cell therapy pioneer, the latter having splashed $11.9 billion on Kite in 2017- one of that somewhat quiet year’s larger deals.
It remains to be seen whether Celgene will also move for a takeover of bluebird bio, with whom it has long been in a collaboration partnership on the CAR T therapy for multiple myeloma known as bb2121, as it seeks to catch up with Novartis and Gilead in CAR-T. Other suitors will circle- perhaps Amgen making another move in this area, or Gilead- despite Celgene emphasizing its commitment to that partnership.
Elsewhere, continuing the busy start to 2018, Novartis (NOVN: VX) paid Spark $105 million upfront in January for non-US marketing rights to its first-in-class gene therapy Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec) for genetic blindness, which has already been approved by the FDA. BioMarin also remains an attractive takeover target, with a strong gene therapy pipeline for haemophilia A.
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